Get Out and Vote!

I've taken Jo into the voting booth with me for every election since she was born. But not this year. This year she has school on election day and I have a class after school, so it was not to be. Instead, I did early voting on Monday since I had to go to the courthouse anyway for jury duty.

There are a couple of firsts in this election for me. I think this is the first time I've ever lived in a "swing state." It's pretty exciting not knowing which way the electoral votes in my state are going to go. It makes me feel like my vote REALLY matters instead of being more of a "going through the motions" civic duty.

Also - and it was kind of exciting when I realized this - I've actually MET both of the candidates and shaken their hands. I met John McCain way back when I lived in Cincinnati and worked at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. He came for a booksigning and Alan and I both got to meet him. I think we even got a book signed. This was back when he was actually a maverick - before he sold his soul to the Republican party. I met Barack Obama at a Random House sales conference shortly before Audacity of Hope went on sale. He gave a fantastic speech (natch!) to all of the sales reps and I had a chance to chat with him afterwards.

So - an exciting election all around. . .