I'm proud to say that I did not watch a single minute of coverage of Michael Jackson's arrest, trial or verdict, nor have I read single news story about it.

I can think of nothing that would be a bigger waste of time, except perhaps voting in today's Republican and Democratic primaries.

Nonetheless, that's what I did this morning. I pulled into the Eclipse, Crittenden and Hobson Ruritan Clubhouse about 10 of 8 this morning and thought for a moment that I had my days confused. There were no cars in the lot. As I got out of the car and looked around I spotted a lady in a folding chair.

"You're in the right place," she said.

There were three poll workers inside the building.

"Good, I beat the crowd," I said jokingly as I entered. They didn't appear to be amused.

Looking at the list the worker was filling out, I appeared to be the 14th person who came in to vote so far.

Regardless of the gravity, or lack thereof, of the particular election, I like to vote. I rarely feel strongly about any particular candidate and always vote for the underdog, regardless of the party.

The way I figure it, the underdog has to be the better candidate. If people are going to make things like the Michael Jackson trial the most important issue in their lives, then they aren't very smart. So if those people favor somebody, I'm going the other way.

And that's what I did Tuesday. There was one candidate for the Republican nomination for governor who was overwhelmingly favored by the same people, I assumed, who tuned in to the Michael Jackson trial. So my choice was easy.