2012 General Conference Down to the Wire

The last day of the 2012 General Conference.“We are down to the wire,” a delegate said, proposing ‘limiting debates to two speech for and two speeches against’. Indeed, this past week’s plenary sessions of the 2012 General Conference has been tense and we don’t know the outcome of all petitions until the very last moment.

The origin of “down to the wire” is from horse-racing. American racetracks in the latter part of the nineteenth century — before the days of cameras — had a wire strung across the track above the finishing line to help stewards decide which nose had got across the line first. An early example appeared inScribner’s Magazinein July 1889: “As the end of the stand was reached Timarch worked up to Petrel, and the two raced down to the ‘wire,’ cheered on by the applause of the spectators. They ended the first half mile of the race head and head, passing lapped together under the wire, and beginning in earnest the mile which was yet to be traversed”(Quote from World Wide Words).

So, General Conference as a race is down to the wire. According to this morning’s Plenary Action Progress Report of the Coordinator of the Calendar, vote is complete on 82% regular calendar items (with consent items) while 32% of regular calendar items (without consent items) complete. Still a few moremiles to go.

Now, let’s see how the rest of the day unfolds! O, Lord, help us.