Politics, in your face!

I'm not a real political guy but I feel I can hold my own in a political discussion without sounding like a complete moron or an arrogant prick. Although this week has been interesting - politics has literally been in my face everywhere I go. In case you don't have a TV or visit any of the news websites, the New Hampshire Primary is today. So for the last 3 or 4 days, almost all the presidential candidates have been running around the state trying to garner support from independents and undecideds, while nearly every major media outlet in the nation has been following them around.

My office is in the center of Manchester, New Hampshire, half a block from City Hall Plaza - the epicenter of the media circus. I look up from my desk and Dan Rather's remote studio is parked across the street, ready to deliver the results tonight from the Palace Theater. Up and down the street, all the good parking spots are filled with broadcast trucks and scaffoldings, all of which have satellite dishes sitting on top. Down the street, Good Morning America has set up a giant glass studio on a scissor lift, elevated 10-15 feet above the ground. And further down the main strip, MSNBC, Fox News, and CSPAN have parked their production buses. On every major street corner, there are at least 20 or 30 plastic signs for the various candidates stuck in the snow.

At City Hall Plaza itself, crowds have formed all day long with signs for the various candidates, cheering at cars that simply want to get through the traffic. And of course, it wouldn't be politics without dissent - for every Hillary supporter, there's a guy yelling "Iron my shirt!"

Supporters of various candidates gather outside City Hall Plaza.

Every few hours, police cars followed by Secret Service line the street and shoo away traffic as another candidate tirelessly travels from rally to rally. Yesterday, at around 4:00, I left my office to chants of "John McCain!" and his dissenters shouting "No Amnesty!" So I figured I would check it out.

My son was with me so I didn't want to goon my way through the crowd, but I hung around long enough to see him wrap up a speech and walk onto his bus.

I can't help but think of how exhausting it must be for the candidates. If you watched the debate Saturday night, you probably noticed that Barack Obama wasn't his usual dynamic self- I can only imagine what the last day or so must have been like for him.

So after all these politicians and their propaganda have been shoved in my face the last few days, there is only one question left:

Who the fuck should I vote for tonight?