Have you outgrown your political party?

One of the things I like best about this election is that no one's behaving exactly the way they're "supposed" to behave. Journalists are talking about the big migration of Ohio Republicans to the Democratic ticket, but voters have been smashing down demographic stereotypes in primaries and caucuses across the country.

It could be, as some analysts propose, that voters are being strategic or manipulative, crossing party lines to promote the election of the weaker challenger.

It could be that voters are confused, still trying to figure out what's substantially different between Obama's and Clinton's platforms, or how conservative McCain is, or which candidate best addresses their particular concerns.

But it also could be that this election has freed people to re-examine their own political beliefs and party affiliations. It's not an exercise we undertake often. We may move out of our comfort zone for a particular candidate, but rarely -- and only uncomfortably -- do we step back far enough to say, does this party affiliation still fit my personal beliefs?

However we answers pollsters' questions or weigh in on political blogs, this election has challenged us to privately re-evaluate our own positions, to think about whether we've been politically consistent or inconsistent, whether our stance on social issues matches up to our fiscal beliefs, and whether we're voting our hearts or only our histories.

Issues change. Parties change. The world changes around us. Allowing ourselves to consider whether we've changed is one gift of this messy, fascinating election season.