My dad's fault :-)

I am tired and bleary eyed this morning. Since we were out of coffee, I'm still not sure how that happened in this house, I have already been to Wal-Mart this morning to get some more and now have a much needed cup in hand. Why am I so tired? I mean, aside from all the obvious reasons. Because I stayed up last night watching election results. Yep. Yesterday was one day when I would have gladly paid to have cable and been able to keep CNN or MSNBC on all day. But alas, I had to wait until the regular newscasts to get my election day fix. Why am I such an election day junkie you ask?

It's my dad's fault!

Ever since I can remember on election day my dad has talked to me about the process and then we have watched the results together. The first election I can remember was when I was in the 5th or 6th grade and Dukakis was one of the canditates. When we were in the Netherlands watching election day results was abit more of a challenge and adventure. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and driving over to an American couple's house to all watch the results together. I was thrilled to be considered mature enough to participate. I think that election was one that involved Ross Perot. I still laugh at the SNL skits about him!

The first election I ever voted in was at Covenant College. I remember my friend Bryan driving me to a small polling station on the mountain. It was a thrill to actually go into the voting booth, pull the curtain, and pull the lever. This year in Georgia anyone can vote by absentee ballot so I had the ballot on my dining room table for a few weeks while I prayed, researched and thought about who to vote for.

I consider myself an idependent. I vote for the person, not the party. And I am definitely not a one issue voter. I think that my facination with election results is more about watching trends and issues in the nation. As a sociology major I have an obsession with watching people, trying to figure out why they do what they do. So, obviously I was watching yesterdays results with much curiosity. I am even more interested to see what the next few days and months will bring and what the reaction from the "religious right" will be.

I have been frustrated in the past few elections with the religious community's use of faith to try and force Christians into voting for certain candidates. In discussions that I have had with various Christians that I love my faith has been called into question because I had concerns about certain candidates. I found this commentary on last nights events interesting.

I think though that in general I have become pretty cynical about the whole process. As Aaron says, we don't really have a choice, the choice that we have as American voters is basically between 2 white, rich guys. The other night Aaron read me this startling statistic - 20% of children in America live below the poverty line. Guess what percentage of children lived below the poverty line 20 years ago - 20%. I think that more than anything that statistic says where our priorities are as Americans.

Regardless of my cynical attitude, the process of democracy is facinating. And I fully intend to engage Jeremiah in the process as he grows up. I hope that discussions around our dinner table will include politics and that I can raise Jeremiah to have a thoughtful mind as he begins to think about national and global issues. One day I hope to be staying up late, watching election results with Jeremiah on the couch next to me and I think it will be a proud day for me when I take my 18 year old son to vote for the first time!