Ellington

The turnout today was much lower than many organizers expected, or at least much more peaceful than they feared.

I ran into Jocelyn "Josie" Sida, a student volunteer from Wisconsin and a first-time voter. She was one of 10 in Oxford who helped set up the stage and coordinate the music and register new voters.

Sida—blogging in a cafe—said things were much more friendly than she expected, among many fewer people, as she expected cars to be turned over and things set on fire at her first debate experience.

"I was expecting people to be just freaking out, and packed packed packed. But it was pretty calm, everybody was pretty chill about the debate at the college."

Capt. Calvin Sellers, chief of the University of Mississippi Police, said the same thing. He spent much of the afternoon sitting under a tent on the edge of The Grove people watching.

He said that the police were plenty well staffed for the event, and there hadn't been a single problem.

Sida said she enjoyed her stay here in town. "I never thought I would actually come to Mississippi ever in my life," she said.

"The town was cute, though; it wasn't over-exaggerated. I did see a good balance of supporters between McCain and Obama."