LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE AUDIENCE smaller than Bush-Kerry’s. Hmm. You see a lot fewer bumper stickers, too. Could it be that outside of the political-junkie crowd people just aren’t that excited about this election?
UPDATE: Gerard van der Leun emails:
I don’t think “excitement” is what to look for in this election. What’s coming here is a reckoning.
Here in Seattle, you see endless signs and bumper stickers for Obama as you might well expect. Not a lot for McCain except in the suburbs. But I don’t think that represents the actual popular sentiment in any significant way. Washington actually has, via Rasmussen, McCain within 2. That’s optimistic but even within 6 represents a notable surge in a state where Seattle skews all elections substantially left. (It is a city, as I like to say, where it seems that somebody lifted up the Northwest by the corner, shook it, and everything loose rolled into Seattle.)
As a result, there is no frank exchange of political views between the camps that I can observe here either socially or in the local media. It is simply assumed that if you are not for the Big O, you have nothing to say and if you persist in saying it you will be shouted down in very short order.
I think you see fewer signs not because we are not interested, but because we are now so sharply polarized — to the point of vituperative arguments and outright vandalism. It’s as if we’ve all decided to just prepare and then show up on Election day ready to rumble.
There’s been no little of outright intimidation in this election so far, and I think for the most part, it all flows from the Obama camp. I can think of a number of incidents of hostile action against McCain supporters and even “moderates.” None come to mind when looking the other way. I think we’re seeing a secret sheaf of opinions held close to the vest and running up to a secret ballot. If we had to vote with a show of hands a la the caucus, it might tilt one way. But since we don’t do caucusing for the general, it might well tilt the other.
That’s not encouraging.