NASHVILLE, Tenn.-Nashville shuttle bus driver Mark Wells Cheadle claims he wants to be the rock n' roll version of Ghandi.
Cheadle works as a driver to earn money for pursuing his musical aspirations.
He says the political drama unfolding here in Nashville, as Vice President Al Gore (D) attempts to capture the presidency today, doesn't affect him much except for the traffic it creates.
He sees the droves of politicians and reporters invading the Music City as possible musical funding sources and nothing more.
It is voters like Cheadle who seem to describe today's historic presidential election best - individuals who are not very satisfied with either the election or the candidates.
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Ruth Pate, who works as a tour guide at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the celebrated home of the Grand Ole Opry, said Gore does not deserve the support of Tennesseeans just because he once served as their senator.
"He's never lived here and paid taxes. He's been a professional politician all his life," Pate said. "It's not fair to say he's from Tennessee."
But W. Gary Howard, West Florida University professor of political science, said Nashville doesn't need to pay much attention to the showdown, even though it is home to Gore's national headquarters and the capital of the state he had represented in the Senate for 12 years.
"They're going to go Gore," Howard said. "You're not going to turn away a local favorite son, because you've got too much to gain if he becomes president."
With the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll showing Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) leading Gore 47 to 45 percent, Howard and others have called the election the closest since the Kennedy-Nixon race in 1960.
Indeed, Gore and running mate Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) dedicated all day yesterday to a whirlwind tour of the nation in hopes of gaining the support of swing states, such as Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Gore issued a statement stressing his message, asking voters, "Will we move America forward, or will we go back to the failed policies of the past?"
But rather than casting their votes based upon such sweeping policy initiatives, many voters are siding with whichever man they dislike the least.
"I do not like George Bush," said Gore volunteer Margaret Kurtz, who traveled to Nashville from her hometown of Indianapolis to support the campaign. "He is probably a bigger liar than Gore. He is really a product of his father."
Kurtz said she feels very strongly against those Tennesseeans who cast their votes for anyone other than Gore.
"If this state doesn't vote for him, they're pretty sick," she said.
Nashville hotel gift shop manager Debbe Hershey also sees many faults in Bush.
A 49-year-old part-time Tennessee State University student, Hershey doesn't buy Bush's message.
"He presents himself as a real family man, but he has all these things in his background that make him look like a partier," she said. "And look at Gore - he's squeaky clean."
The recent disclosure of Bush's DUI charge could sway undecided voters who are comparing the candidates' moral characters, Howard said.
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