Could it be? Is it really true? I don't want to jinx anything, but I think after two years of campaigning, mudslinging, exaggerating, villainizing, politicking, scandal mongering, pig-lipsticking, assassination-plotting, whiskey-shot-taking, curveballing, YouTube-ing, campaign shopping, vote stumping, will.i.am remixing, celebrity endorsing and Tina Fey-ing, the 2008 presidential election is at long last.OVER!!!
Maybe now there will be some more real news instead of pseudo-news about Joe the Plumber's licensure.
Now that the confetti's been swept away and the champagne spills have been mopped up, the morning-after nostalgia has begun to set in.
Having psyched myself up for the last few months, I woke up yesterday at 7:30 a.m., Christmas-morning excited to cast my ballot. I expected my first time voting in a presidential election to be accompanied by trumpet fanfares and rockets' red glares and maybe the Founding Fathers looking down from heaven, nodding in approval. Instead, it was just two hours in line and a little attitude from the poll workers.
Slightly disheartened, I walked out of the Alumni Memorial Union and made my way to Starbucks to get my free coffee (CNBC estimated the company would lose $2.25 million in revenue for the day's handouts) and start my day of nonstop election coverage for the Tribune's special election section. Shortly thereafter, I spilled the coffee and, worst of all, my "I Voted" sticker fell off, leaving me ineligible for all the free stuff offered to voters, including Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Krispy Kreme donuts, beer, combo meals, bottles of champagne, tattoo removals, reduced zoo admission, and.ahem, uh, adult toys.
Feeling like I was in a Charlie Brown movie or the title character in "James and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Election Day," I sulked as I interviewed election workers and voters. But being constantly bombarded by eager citizens, it was impossible to stay grumpy.
Everywhere were signs telling people where and how to vote. Posters hung in students' windows — both for John McCain and for Barack Obama. I talked to a community organizer who said 400 high school students in Racine were going door-to-door, encouraging neighbors to get to their polling stations and even offering free transportation there. It was even charming (for the first hour) to hear cars honking in support of their candidate.
While I was in line for those two hours, I talked to several interesting people. One was an ex-Vietnam vet who talked about the draft and his military service. Another was a woman who felt so compelled by the intensity of this election that for the first time she opted to work the polls Tuesday. Students had many different ideas about what the election's most crucial issues were and how to solve them, but most agreed that information about the candidates and the issues was more widely available to voters this year than ever before.
Seven years ago, author Robert D. Putnam wrote a book called "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community." The book is about how Americans no longer feel connected to one another. He calls it social capital.
Well, no matter who they supported on Tuesday, Americans should feel one heck of a bond with one another because for two years, we've had a constant conversation topic. For two years, people have pondered aloud to each other what the outcome would be. And two years later, the world still has its eyes on our fantastic nation.
We the American people are members of a coveted group, and I think that's something we can all agree on.