Election Day

"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. 

One hopes it is the same half."  ~ Gore Vidal 

Sadly, I fear it is not necessarily the same half, but I am trying to emphasize gratitude over snarkiness, so I will focus on the positive. Sure, I am disappointed in the outcome of many of the elections and I am not quite as full of the "Yes, we can!" spirit as I was on this day in 2008 (I swear I'm gonna make a turn toward gratitude here in a second.), but I am still incredibly thankful for the opportunity to participate, however feebly, in our democracy. 

"Thinking is not to agree or disagree. That's voting." ~ Robert Frost

I really do love election day. I got up early to make it to my polling place when it opened so that I could vote before school, and I proudly rocked my I Voted sticker all day. I tell myself that I do it to set an example for my students, but I secretly love sporting that badge of civic responsibility all day. I also totally geek out over election results. I can only watch the ridiculous, endless coverage in small doses, but I love the graphics and maps and the "I'm getting a call now; it looks like we're ready to call it for _______ in ________." Obviously, I preferred the blue dominated results maps of 2008 to this year's surge of red, but I still find the whole thing so exciting.

{Don't judge my sartorial choices; I was showing my school spirit for mix-and-match day.}

Even if I didn't love the drama of election night so much, I would be filled with the gratitude for the simple fact that the election commercials are over, and hopefully we can shift the national dialogue to something more substantive than the college indiscretions of the various candidates.  There is, in fact, much to be grateful for tonight. For example, Christine O'Donnell did not get elected. Therefore I do not have to stay up tonight fretting about the possibility that schools will start teaching creationism as an "equally valid" theory along with evolution. She lost, so I'll take the high road and just keep my fingers crossed that her defeat is a sign that Sarah Palin's influence is waning. I'll also just share this keen observation from Isaac Asimov.

"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" ~Isaac Asimov