Only 50 hours left before the circus ends

Assuming that this election is not a rerun of 2000 with the results hanging by a thread, in 50 hours we will know who is to be the leader of the free world for the next four years.

As a political junkie I will be happy to be able to return to a normal life.

The last two months have been far too much like a major traffic crash - you KNOW you should not keep looking but you can't help doing so anyway.

In spite of the optimism of so many friends who believe that Obama will definitely win, I am not so confident. We have yet to see the effects of the voter suppression efforts by the GOP, the lack of sufficient voting machines, the long lines, the threats of immediate arrest for would-be voters who have minor infractions on their record and the myriad other techniques used historically to drive down voter turnout.

I hope my cynicism will prove to be baseless.

And I fear the effect on our society if those who have so enthusiastically supported Obama are left to believe that once again the election was "stolen." The stakes today are so much higher than they seemed in 2000 that I am very worried about the kind of rift that would result from such an outcome.

So I will be waiting for the outcome with trepidation and hope.