Election night

Election night always makes me nostalgic for pre-IT elections. I have a vague memory of being a kid and having guests over, staying up late as the votes were tallied and reported - not being sure of who would win until the wee hours. Modern voting lacks the sex appeal but that bothers me less when there's good news, like Brad Miller pulling ahead of Robinson and only three seats remaining before the Democrats regain control of the Senate.

The fact that the Webb v. Allen race is still neck and neck is a little concerning - is Allen that charismatic or are Virginians that a) blind b) backwards c) there's no c - as far as I can tell, those are the only two possible reasons. My apologies to my family, many of whom are VA residents - maybe they can help me understand.

And Florida: Mark Foley?!? Seriously, 48% of you voted for Mr. Protect-our-kids-until-their-parents-aren't-watching? Mr. See-you-as-soon-as-you're-18?

But that's democracy, I suppose. I may think the voters backing Allen and Foley are twisted, sad people who were probably humiliated in front of their third grade classes, but majority wins. I have to confess that I was concerned about the validity of this election (and reports of photo IDs required to vote suggests an attempt to weed out immigrants) but the paper printout attached to the voting machine I used today made me feel a little better... a little...

I'm off to bed, perhaps to awaken to solid, honest election results or maybe to headlines exposing some amazingly choreographed poll fraud. Only time will tell... Happy Election Day! May Democracy be with you!