The Christ...

...is very popular here, as evidenced above.

Had my digital camera also not pooped out on me, I would have also shown you a picture of the "Jesus Mobile." It was an old RV with "Jesus" in big letters on the back and along the sides with scripture on the sides.

It was like the "Mitzvah Mobile" popular in NYC where Jews can go in and dance a mitzvah, but I fear that the Jesus version might only let you in if you're voting for George W. Bush.

By the way, the picture above is rather small, but the bumper sticker reads: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.

Meanwhile, the Promise Keepers were down the street two weekends ago.

Have I really been in God's country for two weeks now? What's a Zen Catholic raised in a Jewish area of Syracuse to do?

On the other hand...

I know what I said about the polls in a previous post, but it always feels nice to know that we're moving up in the polls, craptastic as many of them turn out to be. Iowa is seriously becoming one of the most important states to win in the electoral map. It's gonna be a dog fight and we're all gearing up for that. It's not always easy to remember, but every day in the papers, there's something there to remind us.

I've been encouraged by the amount of Kerry/Edwards signs we're seeing on our doorknocking journeys. And I'm still ridiculously impressed by their absentee ballot system here. None of that ridiculous signing up for an absentee ballot, giving the good reasons why you wouldn't be around on Election Day, and then waiting with baited breath for a piece of paper that the Board of Elections might not ever count. By the way, New Yorkers, be sure to fill your absentee ballot out in a pristine manner or else your vote will be spoiled.

Did you know that in states like Iowa where they allow absentee ballot regardless of need that if a voter makes a mistake before Election Day and your ballot is spoiled, they will send you a new one? They assign specific ids to voters and log them accordingly. In fact, if you sign up for an absentee, decide to go to the polls anyway, all you have to do is go to the polls, bring the ballot with you, they mark it spoiled, and then you can go vote on a machine. That is serious coordination, folks.

I'd like to see that in New York:

Voter: "Hi, I got an absentee ballot in the mail, but I'm here now."
Crotchety poll worker (CPW): "Um. Okay. I'm not sure how to handle this. Hang on."

Crotchety poll worker calls over Surly poll worker.

CPW: "This voter got an absentee ballot but wants to vote on the machine. What do I do?"
Surly poll worker (SPW): "Well, f*&! them."

Yeah, I'm sure it would be a very special exchange.

I should give New York poll workers more credit than that, but I can't. Well, that's not true. Some of them are nice. And helpful. And knowledgeable about the voting systems.

But they are few and far between.

However, in Iowa, I have found hope for the future.

Didn't think I'd ever say that, but hey, I didn't think we'd have a president who couldn't finish a sentence with two hands and a flashlight and was fairly illiterate. Or that Paula Abdul would resurface again. I've been wrong in the past, but the one thing I've known since 2002: John Kerry is consistenly underestimated. And as I said during the primaries, I'll say it again: if we all work a little harder to get some folks to vote - and tell the truth about the situation our country is facing, we'll win.

So I'm feeling good. Now if I could just get some sleep...