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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Hi, I’m Niall and I’m a pollaholic with election fever -- Ups and down lead to bipolar mood swing states

Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 09:21 AM
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Hi I’m Niall and I’m a pollaholic.

Yes, I’m that person who spends most of their day fretting and fussing about the latest national polls. I call it bipolar mood swing states.

I realize my position is incurable and that there are no known antidotes until after November 6th.

Clearly it is hereditary. I grew up in a household where the Irish Civil War happened yesterday and fiery debates were still going on decades later.

My father was an unabashed partisan who took a side and stuck to it, hell or high water.

It rubbed off on me—which is why I’m now addicted to American politics.

Like most Europeans living in America, I’m reflexively a Democrat, and Bill Clinton’s role in the Irish peace process sealed the deal for me.

So now I’m cheering Obama on.

From early morning I’m on it. RealClearPolitics.com for breakfast.

If Obama is ticking upwards, breakfast is a cool mellow meal.

If he’s behind I’m blaming those biased Republican pollsters.

Then there’s Politico.com with the latest scuttlebutt from the campaigns.Then there’s Huffington Post of course, to see my own views reflected back.

Or TalkingPointsMemo.com for the latest slanted news from the Democratic camp.

I can get real hardcore and dip into DailyKos.com the hard-nosed liberal site where Republicans are Halloween monsters.

If I need a fix on the GOP side I’m off to RedState.com, followed by Drudge report.

I’ll sometimes torture myself with a quick click into NYPost.com or Fox News.

If I’m feeling like some campaign coverage, it’s the Washington Post or New York Times.

All this before breakfast.

My wife recognizes the symptoms well; she saw them four years ago and four years before that.

She says she’ll take my iMac away if it shows signs of getting worse.

(Memo to self, make sure you know where spare iMac is for daily fix – because it is getting worse.)

Why does this bloody election have to be so close?

It only feeds the habit.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.



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3 comments

Page 1 of 1 pages
IrishAndProud | Oct 25, 2012, 02:50 AM EDT
...and, I'm happy to report, Romney's now leading in the left-leaning Reuters and Washington Post/ABC polls now, as well (in addition to Gallup). Also, isn't it interesting that those posters on IrishCentral (and certain 'columnists,' too) who hate the United States of America the most militantly also back Barack Obama the most intensely? To them I say: thank you for confirming what the American majority has known about that guy for years, now. Either way, he's joining the ranks of the unemployed, in under two weeks.

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Towngate | Oct 24, 2012, 05:53 PM EDT
Very droll, Niall, a chara. Perhaps you should just relax in a quiet darkened room with a cool napkin on your forehead until November 7th,and consider the close call the Irish Republic had when you threatened to stand for President there! Sláinté.

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toonwalker | Oct 24, 2012, 12:10 PM EDT
Niall, you may soon need an intervention. Do pollaholics need sponsors? Maybe you should book a bed at a pollaholic detox now. In two weeks they will all be full. Resist that 1st click on the post/ Then drink a toast/ for it's only two more weeks/ that many shall seek/ the mute button.

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