Tuesday Lunchtime:
An ominous day. Two days. I’m going to merge them, because I don’t know where one will finish and the other start. I hope there’ll be a run or two in here too, not to mention a football match, so hang on in there.
A message on the Runners World forum the other day asked plaintively whether people weren’t fed up with all the attention that the US presidential election was getting. “What’s it got to do with us?” they asked.
Rather a lot, of course, is the answer.
Arguably, we’ve seen more of the campaign than the average American. We get the straight (if it can be called straight) hustings stuff. But we also get a ton of meta-analysis that examines the state of American society and its media. It truly is “the greatest democracy money can buy”, as a wise man once said.
People keep asking me who I think will win. It’s an interesting question because it’s not really about Bush v Kerry. It’s about Bush. It’s about whether the electorate endorses the Bush world-view or rejects the Bush world-view. Kerry may or may not turn out to be a great president, but his purpose in this election is reduced to that of a code-word for Bush rejection. It’s a bit like an arranged marriage, according to an Indian guy I spoke to recently. “You marry first”, he said, “And hope you can fall in love later on”.
This is the first US or UK election since this website began, so I’d better explain that I enjoy them. A lot. Enough to book a day off work the next day so that I can stay up half the night. The appeal is sort of gladiatorial. Sport, but deadly serious. Serious enough to change the world, and by extension, the lives of the people in that world. It’s a long time since we had a US or UK election as unpredictable as this one, so the sporting element is even more exciting, and more deadly, than usual.
Between now and then, there’s the small matter of QPR v Millwall to attend to. It’s going to be a long night.
Midnight:
Just back from a pulsating Loftus Road where we were lucky to grab a 1-1 draw against a… robust Millwall side, thanks to a last minute equaliser from the age-defying Paul Furlong. (Pics from tonight’s game courtesy of www.qprnet.com). 
I’d earlier thought I might manage a first for me – a midnight run. I fancied the idea of a new perspective. But I was too hungry to put off eating any longer, so instead I’ll try a longer jaunt tomorrow.
Election news is surprisingly positive at the moment. There are strong murmurs about a Kerry win, though this is based on little more than anecdotal reports of a high turn-out. Ladbrokes have just made Kerry 1/3 favourite and Bush 9/4. First time in the entire campaign that Kerry has been favourite.
…. but going the other way again. I’ve had £50 on Bush at 7/4 as a minor insurance. Not the sort of bet I want to win.
Time to sleep, fearing the worst.
Wednesday morning:
That’s it then. We wake to a world even less safe than it was yesterday. At least yesterday we had hope. Now we have none.
At times like this, I tend to retreat. No point in agonising over the impending disaster. It’ll happen. Life will limp on.
This is where running is so useful. It has a great ability to wipe the slate clean, even if the tabula rasa is illusory. Let’s get running. Life will be better afterwards.
Wednesday evening:
Oh well, what can you do?
You can run, that’s what. I got out at about four this afternoon, and headed out along the canal – my first plod down here for weeks. How good it felt. It was still light – just. I watched as the sun slowly sank behind the lake running alongside this stretch of the Kennet & Avon Canal. Very peaceful, and just what I needed.
I didn’t have a lot of sleep last night, and thought this would weigh heavily on any running I did today. But it didn’t. I ended up knocking out nearly 6½ miles at a reasonable lick, and felt almost purged of my earlier despondency.
Much of the run was spent pondering the nature of the American people. I read recently that about 50% of American adults regard Darwinism as “just a theory on a par with Creationism”. If people are that badly educated, or inward looking, or mentally ill, or f***ing stupid, I suppose Bush’s re-election seems more comprehensible. A damn shame for all those decent Americans I correspond with, and like a lot.
The one good thing I can think of about another four long years with this Bush creature is that he’ll at least provide us with plenty more laughs. We are rightly scared of the man’s staggering idiocy and deceitfulness, but it does have its lighter moments.
In fact, let’s face it, the man’s a scream really.
