The first day of early voting (February 19th) got off to a bang, thanks to a vote-in on the UT campus and the march to vote by students at Prairie View A&M.  All throughout the state, voters turned out in record numbers, emphasizing that Texans are excited and eager to cast their votes.

But, guess what folks?

It turns out that that increase has continued to hold.  Today is day 5 in the 11-day Texas early voting period.  We'll look at some numbers.  

More after the jump.

I just love this story...so I thought I'd share.

1000 students marching their way to vote...

We're certainly drowning in polls.  And thanks to all the entrance and exit polls, this electorate has been been sliced and diced into subgroups by ethnicity, gender, age, income and more.   To listen to the pundits, ethnic groups and gender groups are voting in lock-step...as some sort of prerequisite for being a member.

Now, since I belong to a bunch of different groups, I'm confused.  Thanks to Texas' primary on March 4th, I have a chance to cast a "vote that matters."

So, given my profile, where should my vote go?

I saw on the news this morning, the editor of Time magazine with the new edition that had this dramatic headline on its cover:
"The Struggle for the Soul of the Democrats"

Is that what we're doing?  If so, is it any wonder that this has become so bitter and so personal?  Sometimes it seems that both sides are lined up like those old pictures of battlefields gone by with their lines and lines of infantryman.  Is this an accurate picture of what's going on?