I am an election junkie

I keep hearing people say how much they're tired of the election, how much they can't wait for it to be over, how they can't stand to hear about the candidates anymore. Now. my mother in Ohio is getting a campaign call every half hour, and I can see how that's annoying. But, I must confess. I love this.

I really love the election, and the whole long awful process (although I do have some issues with the process itself - the jury's still out on whether the electoral college is a stupid idea or not). I have been following it since the early days of the primaries, probably because I was on a college campus in Ohio, and that's the type of thing you talk about on college campuses in swing states. I don't think my personal opinions are hard to see - I've supported Obama from the first. But, I've still loved the process, even when it had made me anxious and angry, and it's done that a lot.

I think Americans are more interesting during an election year. We show our true colors. Sometimes those true colors are really, really ugly, and incredibly stupid. There have been some very hateful things done and said in this election. Sometimes they're wonderful, like when we demand real results from our candidates, and when we provide real results in return, like the hundreds of thousands of people who have volunteered and campaigned and donated money because they really believe in something. Isn't that awesome? That people, including young people who haven't even cared about voting before, get so excited about this that they throw themselves into volunteering?

I've been stalking Facebook all morning, because it is covered in the election today. People's statuses reflect their voting, their concerns, their excitement. One status asks if we "considered the least of these" while voting. Another gripes about the long lines. A great many, mine included, are trying to "get out the vote" for Obama. A friend just IMed me to say she voted. I'm wearing my Obama/Biden shirt, and I already voted by absentee ballot (Ohio needs me!) I wish I could be voting in a booth today, even with the lines, because I think I'm just an election junkie. But how can you not be excited? Everywhere today, people are thinking about one thing - the future of our country. Maybe our country would be in a better place if people thought about its future more than just on election day. And gosh, VOTE if you can. It's really a thrill ;)