Well, I got my voting done today, early in the day, before ``work''. The polling place was, as usual, the clubhouse for the golf course/housing development, although getting in was a bit of a chore because they decided to have the two doors nearest the tap sensor for the residents identification club card not open even after the card had been tapped. The two doors farthest from it were permanently unlocked, which only makes sense, since in the United States the ``keep to the left'' rule is probably the only policy more consistently followed than the ``doors nearest the plate you push for wheelchair access are the ones that open''. It didn't just have me confused; a couple entering about simultaneously had the same problem.
Anyway, mercifully, it's the end of a gubernatorial election which has been getting me steadily more aggravated every time I watch a television channel that carries state election advertisements. They've been creeping into web sites too. The big choice was between Jon Corzine who, according to Chris Christie's ads, was a big losey loser gov-fail-inator loser; Chris Christie, who according to Corzine, is really, really fat; and Chris Daggett, who as the leading independent has a name vaguely familiar as the robot dog from Battlestar Galactica. I see from the sample ballot there's also Gary and Cynthia Stein running on the ``Something Stupid'' ticket and I imagine they're quite proud of themselves over there in Nomination By Petition Column E, row two. (Also in Column E is a fellow named John, running for the unexpired part of the Mayor's term, under the ``Why Not John'' ticket, which makes it lucky none of the other candidates is named John. There's two Michaels, explaining the lack of a ``Why Not Michael'' ticket.)
Also technically the state is electing a Lieutenant Governor, a new wrinkle which promises to add all the excitement of lieutenant governors to state politics. I'm not positive we really need one, but New Jersey has had a freak decade in terms of governors resigning or being in massive car crashes and things like the Presidency of the State Senate (the designated backup before the Lieutenant Governor spot comes into operation) being split between evenly-divided parties mucking up the chain of succession. I admit three acting governors in twelve months is a bit much. And I admit that neither cabinet-based chains of succession nor going to the heads of the legislature is really fully satisfactory for filling an executive vacancy. I'm still not emotionally convinced the state needs one. Anyway, the name-brand candidates selected candidates who are not technically dead, I think, for the posts.
Trivia: The bodies of 64 men captured in the hull of the Maine were recovered and buried in Arlington National Cemetery after the ship was excavated in 1911. Source: The Spanish War: An American Epic 1898, G J A O'Toole.
Currently Reading: The Influence Of Sea Power Upon History, 1660 - 1783, Alfred Thayer Mahan.