<thread drift> Palin definitely helped. I went to see her speak November 1st -- there were thousands of very enthusiastic Republicans there. She's a terrific speaker. I showed up at 12:30, met a friend who had already been in line, waited outdoors til 3:30 when they opened the doors (at that point I couldn't even see the end of the line)(thank God the weather was beautiful), then went and stood in a tight-packed crowd (no chairs; I felt sick for a while with the heat and having skipped lunch) until the show started around 6:30. Bob Dole was there, which was kinda cool. Palin didn't arrive until 7:30. So, eight hours of my life, for a 20-minute speech, but I'm really glad I went. Anyway, I'm pretty sure she was drawing bigger and more fired-up crowds than McCain. Anyone who says she hurt him is sour-grapesing. </thread drift>
On election day, I walked in, got my ballot, walked right to an empty booth, voted, & left within 15 minutes. No waiting. North Carolina had early voting, and about 40% of the eligible voters went early. The average wait time for the early-voting sites was an hour to ninety minutes. On election day, with tons more polling places open, it was pretty quiet.
PJ
