Let us face this simple fact: In all likelihood, you have a better chance of catching a SEPTA bus today than mustering up whatever it takes to care about this Election Day. But still, democracy trudges on. Here in Philadelphia, the only race a reasonable person could be expected to watch is one that will require absolutely zero watching — the race for District Attorney, where Democrat Seth Williams goes toe-to-toe with GOP D.A. hopeful Michael Untermeyer. Because this is Philadelphia, whosoever wins the Democratic primary is all but guaranteed a win in the general election, and even if you didn’t like Seth Williams before, you probably still like (or more importantly, know) Untermeyer even less. And of course, there’s also the race for City Controller, but just go ahead and tell me if you could honestly separate these guys in a lineup. The rest of the races here in Philly mostly revolve around judges, and as always, the Committee of Seventy has everything you will need to know before you head into the polls today. And you should, even though it isn’t sexy today. (Lord, the ways in which it’s not sexy today.)

Over in Jersey, the Governor’s race has a little more heat to it, but even this is more of, say, a hot-water-bottle heat, designed to induce a kind of confused slumber, than it is the white-hot electric heat of Election Day just one year ago. At issue: Nobody really likes John Corzine. And they possibly like Chris Christie (who looks and feels like nothing so much as a mashup of Baccala from The Sopranos and Rick Santorum) even less. But even still, almost nobody is crazy enough to “throw their vote away” on independent candidate Christopher J. Daggett. When the polls close today, something may or may not have happened. And it will be the job of cable news, and almost no one else, to shape it into something unlike whatever that thing actually is.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 1:45 pm.