WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 7 - People wake up. They vote. They go to work. They come home. This sounds like a routine Election Day anywhere in America. And our nation's capital is no exception.
Many people may have the perception that Election Day and night are the biggest day of the year here. It is the most political town in a political country. When we think of elections, images of throngs of people and over-the-top celebrations in the street come to mind. Given the nature of this city, one might expect a Super Bowl-type atmosphere. But that is not the case.
Sure, people pay attention to the results of today's contests, but there is less anxiety on the streets of Washington than one might find elsewhere. It may be the capital of the most powerful nation on earth, but on Election Day here, it is business as usual in Washington, D.C.
In many countries around the world, the capital is not only the seat of government; it is also the social, financial and industrial center. Think of London, Mexico City, Rome, Tokyo and many other examples: These cities are the epicenter of their respective nations for reasons beyond the fact that the government resides there. The United States is the exception. In our country, a different city fills each of these roles. New York is our financial center. We have many towns dotting the Midwest that form the industrial base. And as far as popular culture goes, Hollywood - whether we like it or not - forms the basis for what we consider cool or hip.
But Washington, D.C. is only one cog in the machine called America - the political one. Unlike many other world capitals, this city is not the epicenter of national attention when Election Day rolls around. Most of the national media will flock to Nashville and Austin to observe the presidential candidates, along with New York to cover You-Know-Who's senatorial campaign.
Everyone - from Union Station shoe-shiners to Metro police officers - has an opinion to offer about the election. But there is little more to the conversation than that - an opinion. Serious discussion of the issues or the candidates is not a high priority in the minds of many of the people you pass every day on your way to work.
Despite the reportedly high turnout across the nation, most people here in Washington are very composed about the election. This is not to imply that they do not have strong feelings about these contests - they certainly do. But the city of Washington, with its three electoral votes, is the most consistently Democratic supporter in the country. It has not voted Republican since ... ever. Besides, this city has accustomed itself to living under both parties in the White House. Although President Clinton has occupied that residence for the past eight years, his predecessors Reagan and Bush held that position for the previous 12.
The general lack of enthusiasm for either candidate is evident throughout the city. Outside of any major party gatherings, there will be scant high-fiving or serious celebrating over the result of tonight's elections. Perhaps even more serious is the general attitude that prevailed among both tourists and security guards alike: Both candidates appear - at least on the surface - to be nearly identical. One gets the sense that this city resides in a kind of apolitical bubble. It is as if the rest of the country works itself into a frenzy over these elections, and yet life continues on here almost as if it were any other day.
The bars in Georgetown offer another example of this kind of restrained observation of what is occurring at precincts around our country. Most bars will offer at least one monitor with election coverage - CNN, MSNBC, etc. But ESPN or some other kind of programming still takes up a large number of televisions. One might chalk this up to the fact that elections coverage - with the exception of the all-important color-coded map - is relatively useless unless one can actually hear what Chris Matthews and Jeff Greenfield have to say.
Yet that explanation alone does not account for the apparent indifference that many bars and their patrons have to the elections. Even with unusually high turnouts across the nation, there is still a large portion of our population that either disregards politics completely, or at least prefers not to give it more attention than any routine news story.
Despite the many images of Washington, D.C. as a town consumed by politics and politics alone, these elections are not the be-all and end-all for most of its residents. In a way, Washington is like a factory town, with politics and policy as its product. But unlike most factories, this one will never shut down, come what may. There is a prevailing sense of security among city residents that everyday life in this town does not hinge on a November day every four years. In contrast to many other world capitals, Washington has only one function, and it performs this function reasonably well.
In American elections, we are not looking for saviors, only candidates that will keep the train on the tracks, moving forward. It is this sense of satisfaction and inevitability that makes Washington, D.C. one of the few places in the country where, even with a little added excitement, the first Tuesday in November is almost like any other day.
(Timothy DuBoff is a Cavalier Daily columnist.)
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