But I am going to tell you what excited me about this election (aside from the fact I was in and out of my polling location in less than 5 minutes. Seriously, I timed it): the level of interest from my 11 and 13-year-old daughters.
They reported with pride the results of their respective school mock-elections. They giggled over election photos their friends posted on Instagram. They finished their dinners as quickly as possible so they could curl up in front of the television to WATCH THE RETURNS.
People, it set my heart a quiver.
I'm going to repeat that for posterity: my children, who can't vote for a presidential election until 2020, were so invested in the 2012 Election they were willing to watch the likes of Diane Sawyer and the guy with the goatee on NBC yap endlessly about "ground strategy" and "Florida retirees" and "Cuyahoga County"so they could stay abreast of the nuances of who would win and why.
They were engaged, and asking smart questions:
Why does Florida have so many electoral votes, and Vermont so few?
What's the difference between a red state and a blue state?
What's an exit poll?
How come there's nothing for California? ("Oh, time zone. Never mind.")
How do you think the children and grandchildren of the candidates feel right now?
Do you think the guy painting the states on the ice rink is afraid he might slip on the ice and it will be all over You Tube by morning? (Can't win 'um all here, folks.)
Can we please stay up until we know who won? (Nice try.)
Whether your candidate won or lost, when the next generation is fired up about the political process, I say that's a WIN for everyone.
2 comments:
Completely agree. My son (age 6) was very interested in the whole thing. Since we're on the west coast, we did let him stay up well past his bedtime. He missed the final result by about 10 minutes.
One other cool thing: when I was handing out candy to trick or treaters, a girl who was about 12 was dressed as a ballot box. People handing out candy were instructed to "vote" with the goodies by putting them into the slot marked "Obama" or "Romney." It was great to see that kind of creativity. (spoiler alert: she told me that one side hadn't gotten a single piece of candy. We're in Portland, Oregon, so I'm guessing you can figure out which one.)
-Ben P.
I feel so sad I didn't think of this as a costume -- that is HILARIOUS! We have family in Portland, and just got back from a visit to Seattle, so I'm going out on a limb and guessing Romney came out on the short end of this candy deal, too ....:-)Thanks for reading!!
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