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New York Daily Photo: Galvanic Response
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Wednesday 6 February 2008

Galvanic Response

Yesterday we had a triad of Super events in the city - Super Tuesday with voting in the Democratic primary, a ticker tape parade for the winning of the Superbowl by the New York Giants and "Fat Tuesday" (the day before Lent).
I think regardless of party affiliation, one has to admit that there is a pall hanging over the current Bush administration. The Iraq war has been highly contentious with members of the Republican Party itself coming out against it.
But this is not a political forum and I am not a pundit by any means. My point is that there is much dissatisfaction, the country has become isolated globally and people are looking for a breath of fresh air. There is a stable of good candidates. I like what appears to be a lesser focus on partisanship and more on issues - this lack of partisanship has actually alienated McCain from some of his party.
Many see the populace as highly galvanized in this election year. We have the first serious woman and African American candidates and a Republican who looks more like an independent.
I was curious about the term galvanized used in this way - I have always associated the term with galvanized metal - the process of electrodeposition which is the coating of steel with zinc to provide a protective barrier. But this is the more modern meaning.
The term galvanize originally comes from the Italian Luigi Galvani and his discovery in 1783 that a frog's leg could be made to move by applying an electric current - hence the term galvanism. This theme was picked up by Mary Shelley in Frankenstein with the monster being animated using electricity.
I'm glad we didn't have to rely on Luigi Galvani, Volta, Tesla or Mary Shelly to galvanize the public this year - I'm not sure we have the technology (yet) to resurrect them :)

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