538

538.  It's just a number.  But right now this number is of the utmost importance.  538 is the number of electors in the electoral college.  The electoral college is a flawed system to be sure, but it's the law of the land and it's what we have to deal with.  While I was surfing, I came across a great website dedicated to analysis of current and past polling and political data to help anyone from the casual politico to the most obsessively, compulsive wonk make sense of it all.  The site is aptly called, Five Thirty Eight.  If you are interested in the current numbers and state by state breakdowns, this is the site for you.  Check it out here.

As every day goes on leading up to the election, I am becoming increasingly nauseated by the innuendo and filth being flung about as if from angry, riotous chimpanzees.  Who cares what someone's middle name is or how many houses someone owns?  I certainly don't and I'm sorry, but neither should anyone else.  It's a good thing there aren't any terrorists named Lucinda, or my middle name could be a liability and scare people away from buying my jewelry!  The focus should stay on things that really matter, like the economy, healthcare, the wars, our infrastructure, poverty, energy policy, just to name a few.  Just do some reading, don't vote for someone just because you think he seems like a nice man, or you think he's a good dresser, or he's well-spoken, or he reminds you of your dad or any other nonsense.  Do some research, get informed, read about policy, think about the issues that are meaningful to society at large and then vote your conscience, for heaven's sake.  It's really not that hard.