November 04, 2008 - There's an electricity in the air!

It's Election Day!!!

I'll admit that I'm a geek. I get excited for Election Day like some people get excited for Christmas or their birthdays. When I was little it was mysterious, an intriguing secret held by my parents. They'd take me to the polling place, but I'd either have to wait in the lobby or in the car (with the heater running...no need for that today when it was 75...). I always wanted to know what was going on, and as I got older, I was enthralled by the pagentry of it all: the speeches, the bunting, the waiting on Election Night to see the results. It's probably no wonder that I became a political science major in college and worked on a campaign in the fall of 2002.

I always get excited when an election rolls around, even the primaries, but this year is different. I really wasn't won over by any one candidate and in the end probably voted more based on party affiliation than an intense belief in one person over another. But despite that, this Election Day has been incredible because this year there's an electricity in the air, and it's not just me that feels it.

I'm always dismayed when after being excited all day long I sit down to watch results roll in and the turnout numbers are so low it hardly seems worth the effort and money required to run an election. But it's not like that this time. Everyone is talking about this election. Whether it's talking about the candidates or just paying attention, people have been involved. That's a rarity. And today it's become something incredible.

I don't ever remember an election where I've heard from friends and family who stood in a line to vote. Not just behind two or three people, but minutes, sometimes past the hour mark, waiting to cast a ballot. Every election is important, but it feels like this time people get that. They want to be involved. They want to be part of deciding the future not just of the country, but their states, cities, and school boards. They want to exercise the right that hard work has guaranteed for us. It's an amazing thing!!

Random election thoughts:

1. The Kentucky Secretary of State election result website sucks. It's way too hard to find a lot of results quickly.

2. It's 8:01 pm, and already NBC is calling 15 states. I'm not saying I want another 2000 election, but seriously...a 21 month race ending this quickly? A little anti-climactic.

3. How is "coroner" an office up for election? What is the criteria for that job? Does it require a specific degree? A medical license? And the bigger question...what kind of commercials would that race breed??

4. How does one get the job of painting in the states on the Rockefeller Center ice rink as they're called? I mean, I can't ice skate, but I'd sure learn for that job!