The straw poll that ends a marathon campaign

I’m in in NYC to participate in the New York Marathon, and I thought I’d do some unscientific market research amongst marathon runners to test the state of the nation…

As it turned out, I didnt enjoy the best of runs in the marathon. I started slowly, and got slower. But my pedestrian progress through the five boroughs of NYC provided some useful insights into the political allegiances of fellow marathon runners.

As I slowed, I was passed by a variety of runners wearing running kit that disclosed their take on who should win the Presidential vote on Tuesday.

First up (waiting in line for the start) was Bunny 4 Barack. This six foot six colossus was wearing a pink bunny hat to attract attention to his support for Obama.

Once the action got started, I was passsed by a variety of other Obama supporters. There was a pair of twins (girls) wearing Obama masks. There was a group of “Muslims for Obama”. And scattered throughout the crowd were signs along the route simply proclaiming “Yes We Can” (to which I muttered “no I bl**dy can’t as the pain and exhaustion took hold).

And what of McCain? Nothing. Not one sign, Not one supporter. I suppose you might expect that in NYC -a democratic stronghold. But the beauty of the NYC Marathon is that it brings a wide variety of US citizens (and tens of thousands of international guests) to the city. Not one supporter of John McCain.

So there you have it. You read it here first. The results of my unscientific poll suggest an Obama landslide on Tuesday.

Now of course you could argue that as an exhauster, disorientated marathon runner, my samples may be subject to a wide margin of error...