Proud

One of the proudest moments an American has is to cast a vote. I feel an amazing sense of power as I stand before that voting screen and touch the box next to each candidate of my choice. I would spend an hour or more in line if necessary to exercise this right, but fortunately my polling location was not crowded … I was only in line for ten minutes this morning.

This election season was the meanest I can ever remember. Most politicians, even the ones I voted for, spent more advertising time blasting their opponents than explaining what they would do if elected or re-elected. It is difficult to make an informed choice with all that crap swirling around. I made most of my choices months ago and nothing in any ad, debate or Facebook post changed my mind. Much to my surprise, however, some people were still undecided as late as this morning. I had a brief email exchange with a friend over Presidential candidate choices and I believe she eventually made her choice based as much on what she heard in ads as what she got from other sources. I think she could have dug deeper for truthful information but I give her credit for caring enough to ask for other opinions. And her last Facebook post this evening showed the long line she was determined to remain in till she cast her votes.

I am so happy the political advertising is done for now but I fear we might not know the outcome of the Presidential race tonight. It will be very close and there will likely be challenges to some of the vote counts in some states. I just hope it doesn't drag out like it did in 2000.