Is It Over Yet?

Tomorrow is election day.  Between the national and state elections…thankfully it’s all finally coming to an end.  The ads, the mudslinging, even the news has gotten too much.  A night or two ago, I had the television on while cooking dinner.  During one of the commercial breaks, all but one of the commercials was a campaign ad.  To be honest with you, I don’t want to listen to, watch, or read anything more about this freaking election.

It sounds like the presidential race is going to be too close to know the outcome by tomorrow night.  That has been the prediction for the last week or so.  It could be the end of the month or later before we actually know who won.  Oh great…   

There have also been reports about voter intimidation, on both sides.  The more I read about it, the more I get sucked in, the more I don’t know which way is up, and the more I think both parties are completely insane.  Roseanne Barr was on the ballot for the Peace and Freedom party.  Maybe I should have just voted for her.  Could she be any worse?  (Don’t answer that.)

We’ve got some important propositions on the California ballot.  Two, specifically 30 and 32,  directly impact my job as a teacher.  If 30 doesn’t pass, K-12 education will be cut by $5 billion, a disgusting amount.  We’ve also got a proposition that would nullify the state’s (unused) death penalty and oddly a measure to ensure our state’s porn stars are getting tested and wearing condoms – requirements that are actually already in place.  There has been so little, if anything, said about the death penalty proposition.  The only reason I’m aware it’s on the ballot is because I read it in the booklet.  I would have thought removing the death penalty as punishment would be a big deal, (I’ve heard more about the porn measure) but it’s been nothing but a blip during election season. 

We’ve been studying US government in social studies over the last month or so and my kids have been anxiously waiting for this election.  They’ve watched the debates at home and come in spouting their (or their parents’) thoughts.  After the last debate, one of my students announced emphatically that “Obama won!”  I reigned in the class, we reviewed the election lessons, and we talked him out of his announcement with a reminder that the election hadn’t even happened yet.  As I thought about it later, I think he mistook the news reports that Obama had won the last debate to mean he won the election.  Regardless, I’ve been thrilled that they are interested.

This afternoon, Room 16 (my classroom) held its own presidential election.  The kids were SO excited they could hardly stand it.  They filled out their ballot behind their privacy board so their vote remained a secret and then dropped their ballots into our ballot box (that was their favorite part I think).
Afterwards, they made a prediction about who they thought got the most votes.

Then we tallied the votes.  Obama won by a landslide. 

There are about 24 hours left in our election season.  We may not know all the outcomes in 24 hours, but at least the worst part of these elections will be finished.