What a difference a few hours make.  After a large rush in the morning, Nashville's polling centers are dead.  I could find no lines at any of them over the past two hours.  I spoke with Steve Turner, a local community organizer and voter drive organizer.  He told me he had stocked up on bottled water and food and planned to spend the day traveling to polling stations and providing refreshments for the long lines.  So far, the lines haven't formed.  I spoke with him in the early afternoon and he said that he has changed plans and is canvassing in neighborhoods instead to drive turnout to the polls.

McCain Headquarters in Nashville

I also stopped by the TN Republican Party headquarters and the McCain campaign headquarters here in Nashville in the last two hours.  Neither office had phonebanks or any other activity (though the Republican Party headquarters is a general office and not a campaign office.)  There were only a few older women at the McCain HQ, and they told me that the polls were slow from everything they were hearing, too.  They did ask me more than once if I could give a ride to an elderly woman somewhere in Nashville even though I told them I was only there to cover the activity as a journalist.  Most speculate that the polls are dead because of very high turnouts in early voting, not to mention that midday is traditionally the slowest time for voters, anyway.  We will see if an "after-work" rush develops in the next couple of hours.

Activity was low at McCain headquarters during midday.  Local polling stations are slow now, too.

I have not been to Nashville's Obama headquarters as of yet, but I am curious to see if the activity level is any higher than at the McCain headquarters.  Perhaps I missed all of the early morning phonebanks and other activity at GOP offices.  Tennesseans have roughly four more hours to vote; we'll see what happens until then...