Someone in 08!

I love election days. Ben and I honestly celebrate them like it's Christmas. We always make brownies or popcorn for the big debates and voting days. Today's been a bit of an exception since Ben won't be home until 8:30ish, but we are still psyched about the returns and will be watching them with excitement.

So the question weighing on everyone's mind is who we support. Let's get our stats straight first. Benjamin is a future dentist. Out of the eight people in his family, five are either working in healthcare or are training to work in healthcare as doctors, dentists, and pharmacists. Benjamin's degree is in International Relations, so he knows a few things about politics. My family owns a terribly successful smalll business. I primarily teach lit, but I did minor in political science and have taught (and am currently teaching) a few history classes. Needless to say, we followed the elections pretty closely since they were so relevant to our families.

In the beginning, we loved one of the candidates. We went to rallies, we bought tshirts, and we fought, pleaded and argued with those who opposed him. Then the candidate started changing his tune about some important issues. Simultaneously, the opposing candidate made some decisions that I thought were sings of terrible judgment. Those decisions resulted in a massive amount of publicity for said candidate, but also cost him my respect. Plunged into an unhappy time of disgust and general disenchantment, I began strategizing to vote with the aim of damage control. As the current Congress is largely comprised of Democrats, I attempted to reign in the government and, with much anxiety and reluctance, voted McCain.

In this election and in the last one I have wished that this country was just a democracy rather than a democracy within a republic. I disagreed vehemently with both candidates on many issues, and in the end the candidate who won my vote did so only because I feel he will be least powerful in his office. How pathetic. How I wish the ballot had a list of issues for which I could cast my vote rather than a list of men.

All and all, however, it was an exciting day. I was able to discuss the electoral college system with my seventh grade history students. They believe they should be allowed to vote, and after listening to some of their ideas, I must agree with them. I believe some of them are more informed than the majority of adult voters. I was also able to congratulate my ninth and tenth graders, as this is the last election through which they must sit out. Some were excited, some were surprised, and some didn't care, but I personally can't wait for them to cast their ballots. How exciting!

I love this country.