Early Morning Update

"The genetically vicious nature of presidential campaigns in America is too obvious to argue with, but some people call it fun, and I am one of them. Election Day - especially a presidential election - is always a wild and terrifying time for politics junkies, and I am one of those, too. We look forward to major election days like sex addicts look forward to orgies. We are slaves to it."

7:15am in the UK, and I've been up all night watching the election results come in and talking to Jennifer and Jammie about the ramifications of what we were seeing. At the time of writing, though nothing is certain, it looks as though George W. Bush is going back to The White House. Ohio is the key state, and while in some quarters (NBC, for example) it's already been called in favour of Bush, it looks as though the Democrats are going to dispute the final result until all absentee ballots have been counted, a result Kerry's spokespeople have claimed will swing the state in his favour.

But while NBC have GWB sitting pretty on 269 electoral votes, just one away from the magical 270 needed to win, CNN (who I've stuck with throughout the night) are refusing to call it either way. They are holding with Bush on 249 and Kerry on 211.

It's been an interesting night. I've stayed up to watch a British election unfold before, but never the US equivalent. To be honest, from the figures I've been seeing, Bush has never really looked like losing. Of course, these things can be deceptive, but I haven't yet shifted from my belief that he's going to be re-elected.

That said, I have to admit to having a certain sinking feeling tonight. While I've predicted a Bush victory since way back when, and while my recent political essays have almost demanded that things unfold as they're currently unfolding, watching the results come in was a nauseating experience. In the end, I guess, no matter how cynical I claim to be, what I'd really like to see is some kind of justice done. Sure, maybe my long-term predictions will turn out to be as accurate as my short-term hunches...but then maybe not. Part of me, a large part of me, wants to go to bed and wake up tomorrow to find that a resurgent Kerry has taken Ohio and found himself enough votes to get to The White House.

But the analytical, logical part of my mind refuses this, and insists that the only real hope for any kind of Democracy lies in the popular vote, which is as close as it has ever been. My big hope, friends, is that these are the figures that tell the true story, numbers that will translate into outrage if Bush emerges triumphant, which it looks like he will.

But apathy...oh, apathy...remains our biggest enemy. These are thoughts that fill me with dread, and it's too late to go articulating them at this ridiculous hour of the morning. I'll be back tomorrow night, with a diary of the election-watch, an analysis of whatever happens between now and then, some snippets of my Messenger conversations tonight, and at least one instance of your favourite blogger publically speculating that Dick Cheney takes it in the mouth from the President of the United States Of America.

Until then, remember that brown is the new black, The Grudge is the new The Ring, and Ohio is the new Florida.

Sweet dreams.