Election Day excitement

My disappointment over the skulduggery of campaign ads and dreariness of some candidates slipped away quickly this morning as I collected my ballot and took pen in hand to vote.

I felt the urgency and purposefulness of this election the minute I got out of my car -- people were moving quickly, asking questions about procedures and voicing opinions to a degree I've never seen before on Election Day.

The opinions weren't on specific candidates or issues, they were on The Issue -- our collective responsibility to vote. As I inked in my choices, a poll worker and voter debated the merits of the Australian requirement to at least show up at the polls, and other workers announced that the voting pace was equivalent to that of a Presidential election.

It felt reassuring, and very American. Average citizens were taking something back -- or maybe giving something back. They weren't giddy, like first-time voters in Iraq, but they were deliberate, and thoughtful and grateful, reawakened to the beauty of a democracy and the simple, almost shocking power we hold in our hands when we vote.