Early Voting, New Hampshire Style

Last week, in an attempt at head clearing, Mad Dog walked through the White Mountains. Happened to walk through Hart's Location, without knowing it. This morning, the good folks of Hart's location cast 23 of 33 votes for President Obama. It's rival for midnight, first- in-the-nation voting, Dixville Notch, cast 5 votes for Mr. Obama and 5 for Mitt Romney.   

So the process here has begun.  

Many have commented that the magic is gone for Mr. Obama. That fresh, dewy thing we called "Hope" has withered on the bloom. 

Mad Dog answers: Of course. 

Getting-to-know-you is always a process of disillusionment. Embodied in that word is the word, "illusion." This is why, in every relationship, there is disappointment. You find out things about your new friend which you do not like. There are the things which attracted you in the first place, but then there are the other things.

And if the connection persists over time, everyone changes. But does the fact you are no longer a cute puppy  mean you ought no longer be valued?  Do we give away our old dogs, when their black noses turn pink, when gray muzzles appear?

Mad dog heard a lecture from a wonderful Harvard researcher on the topic of female libido.  When libido wanes in men, it's usually tied to falling levels of testosterone. Replace testosterone, and men are randy again.  But in women, no such hormone drives sexual interest and attraction. Her Harvard team investigated all the candidate hormones, and combinations of hormones--estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, growth hormone--and none of them, nor any combination, seemed to restore libido in women. "In fact," the researcher said, "The only thing which predictably restored libido in the women who visited our clinic was...a new partner."

Today, Americans will decide whether to toss away yesterday's Hope and Change and to latch on to a new partner.  The triumph of hope over experience, as Oscar Wilde described the man who, once divorced, remarries.

In the end, we see the Heartbreak Kid, having just married his blond, blue eyed fantasy object. He is  sitting at a table at his wedding reception,  looking across the room at  his new wife.  And he is already withdrawing from her.  And we see the dawning of his realization:  the problem with his new choice, as with his former wife,  does not reside in either one of them, but in himself.