Fred Barnes Doesn't Like Early Voting



I don't like Early Voting all that much either: Election Day should be something of a national holiday. Nevertheless, there is no question that, where it is available, Early Voting is a wildly-popular innovation. People with busy schedules can keep their schedules and still vote. Elderly people can vote without feeling rushed. Some long lines can be avoided through Early Voting, which is particularly important in urban areas that may be underserved with polling places. And longer hours means people far from polling places can still vote, which is particularly important in rural areas.

The argument that Early Voting deprives people of pertinent, late-revealed information would be more-important if we had snap elections like the Europeans typically do, where the entire electoral campaign can be compressed into a month. That's not what we do, though. This presidential cycle has been going on for two years. Depriving people of a week's worth of hullaballoo shouldn't change things that much.

So, go ahead Fred Barnes, and bitch about the poor old people doddering around your polling place in Alexandria, Virginia. We know these rocking-chair Americans just gum up the wheels of democracy anyway. Place yourself squarely against the tide of comfort and convenience, the emblematic hallmarks of modern American life. I'm behind you all the way.