Presidential election in Utah

I’m currently in the small town of Kanab, Utah. Tonight is the presidential election where Obama squares off against Romney.

To me, it’s just another sunny day in November. But in America, it’s Election Day. A ritual draped in star-spangled banners, half-truths and the lingering scent of fried food from the local polling station. Every four years, Americans lose their collective minds over two old guys in suits. Flags wave, Twitter burns and Facebook transforms into trench warfare.

Easy parking in Kanab.

And here I was in Utah. Mormon country. Land of red rocks, white smiles and the deepest crimson on any electoral map. The conservative state is pro-Romney as expected, and I’ve heard much about it on the local radio during the day.

When I was driving into town earlier, I was a bit curious of what to expect. Perhaps the evening would unfold at a local bar, where I would follow the election mayhem taking place on large TV screens, busy pitching my ale against the increasingly frothing Romney acolytes?

Nope.

As I asked the motel owner for options, he declared with a sigh that “we do not have such places around here”. Welcome to Utah, I suppose. But come on, there’s at least 50 people and four squirrels living here, so there should be at least one open place?

Anyway, I had to retreat to the motel room TV. The presenters at CNN are absolutely crazy with their projections and state analyses in red and blue. Take the blue pill. Go Obama!