Election Day

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"The country's 24-hour politico-pundit-perpetual-panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them much harder," John Stewart

It probably is a cliche at this point in the election to say that I am sick of all the negative election coverage. Flipping through cable television channels the last several months it was impossible not to witness attack ads and talk show hosts bashing candidate's and propositions. Since I'm from Colorado, living in Washington, election season is a unique experience that has its trade offs. I can't vote here, so I've tuned out the local coverage, and at the same time, I haven't kept up on the issues in Colorado. Since turning 18, I have only voted by mail. While the last presidential election energized everyone to vote, I'm not as motivated this election cycle. It wasn't until I started hanging out at Spokane Public Radio that I remembered why I liked to vote. Unfortunately, I missed the mail-in ballot deadline.

Election day at SPR is a stimulating time. Every hour at the station, staff members are commenting about election results. The news department is getting prepared for a long night of partying. Actually, they will be asking tough questions at the local Democrat and Republican election centers. In the news department no side is safe, considering the brief time I stopped by their office, they were making jokes about how the local Democrats are meeting at the Lincoln Center. Wasn't Lincoln a Republican? The station tries to remain unbiased during elections and does not support any candidate, unlike Glenn Beck or other cable television show hosts.

Last weekend the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" MC-ed  by John Stewart, the host of the "Daily Show" was regarded as a success after tens of thousands of people turned out to proclaim that they are tired of the bickering in politics and the biased opinion of cable television pundits. While standing in front of the steps of the Capital Building, Stewart said, "The truth is, we work together to get things done every $%#* day. The only place we don't is here, or on cable TV-but Americans don't live here or on cable TV"

During the election, employees and volunteers at SPR may not agree on issues or candidates, but for the most part everyone still works together to ensure that programming and news is professional.
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