T-Minus One Year And Counting

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To hear the media talk (and talk), you’d think the elections of ‘08 were over, with Hillary v. Rudy ending in a Hillary win, and Bill as First Lady (Lady’s Man?). And a Democratic Congress.

(Which reminds me: with so much yabble and yammer and kerfuffle, you ever notice how nobody ever has time to complete ONE adult thought? Time is at a premium, constantly, but no one ever gets enough time to make one cogent point. Just wondering.)

Well, welcome to the Big Leagues, kiddies. The American people haven’t spoken yet, and we shall see. Yes indeedy.

We’ll know the score for SURE early on the morning of Wednesday, November 5, 2008, after the election of November 4, 2008, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.*

Which is exactly one year from TODAY.

T-minus 366 days and counting (2008 is a Leap Year) .

Just in case no one on the Sunday Morning Talking Heads Shows notices.

Courage.

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* from Infoplease:

The Question:

Why did Congress (in 1845) select the first Tuesday in November as Election Day?

The Answer:

We found a terrific response to your question at the web site of the Federal Election Commission. Here’s how they explain it:

“. . . For much of our history, America was a predominantly agrarian society. Law makers therefore took into account that November was perhaps the most convenient month for farmers and rural workers to be able to travel to the polls. The fall harvest was over, (remember that spring was planting time and summer was taken up with working the fields and tending the crops) but in the majority of the nation the weather was still mild enough to permit travel over unimproved roads.

Why Tuesday? Since most residents of rural America had to travel a significant distance to the county seat in order to vote, Monday was not considered reasonable since many people would need to begin travel on Sunday. This would, of course, have conflicted with Church services and Sunday worship.

Why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? Lawmakers wanted to prevent election day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. First, November 1st is All Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics. Second, most merchants were in the habit of doing their books from the preceding month on the 1st. Apparently, Congress was worried that the economic success or failure of the previous month might prove an undue influence on the vote!”

For more information, see our section on U.S. Elections.

—The Editors

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