Election Day is here at last

This has been the longest election season ever. I'm not exaggerating either - this whole thing started about 21 months ago, only a few short months after the last major federal election. It's been rough - the up and down Republican primaries, the fight to the finish Democratic primaries, the debates, the endless political ads. One would think that by the time Election Day arrived, no one would go vote because they'd all be so sick of it.

Fortunately, that isn't the case at all.

Reading this morning's headlines, the news is full of stories about huge lines, machine failures, ballots getting too damp because the voter had to stand in the rain. Christine Amanpour from CNN likened the lines to some of the elections she's seen around the world - Iraq, South Africa, Afganistan. And what floors me is how, instead of getting upset or frustrating, people are happy to be there. They taking this election so seriously that a 2 and a half hour wait, while mildly annoying, is something they are willing to undertake. It boggles my mind. After so many years of fighting to get people to the polls, they seem to have woken up this morning understand that this is their duty, their one big job in this democracy.

So, I have a renewed sense of hope in America this morning. And while I have my personal preferences as to who should win, I'm happy to know that no matter how this election turns out, the American people took their job seriously and came out to vote.