This is the start of what will no doubt be an interesting new era in history – a moment in history that cannot be undone and that will change things forever.  We have always said that anybody can be president.  When an interracial son of a lower-middle class family actually does, there is no doubt that it is more true than ever.

After the hoopla last night I found myself giving my daughter a basic civics lesson – explaining the branches of our federal government and their roles, explaining how America became a country and what the Constitution is.  And even though it was after midnight, she seems interested and absorbed it all.  And at 1AM when we were finally going up to bed I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up, she said she wants to be president.  I told her that she definitely could … but she should start raising money now.

We went as a family this morning to the polls – my wife and I and both of the kids walked the 3 blocks to the fire station to register our votes.  My 4-year-old daughter (almost 5) was excited about being involved in the process (she had  made her own decision a few months ago based on the issue of equal pay) and my son was excited to see fire trucks (he is only 2).  We had only about a 20 minute wait and were on our way back home.

Now my daughter is in bed bemoaning the fact that we won’t let her stay up to see the results.  We considered letting her, but she is exhausted and it could yet be hours.  I’m not even sure I’ve got it in me to sit and watch things pan out.  As much as so many of the polls leading up to this have told me that my choice should win by a strong margin, I can’t see enough strong data yet to convince me and two prior disappointments have me hesitant to celebrate early.  It also doesn’t help that every 3 minutes someone on MSNBC mentions how no state has yet gone a different color than they have 4 or 8 years ago.  But I’m holding onto some optimism that things will shift sooner rather than later.  We shall see.

Hopefully in a few hours (or less) I will be following up this post with one of celebration of a long overdue victory.  Hopefully.  And hopefully tonight might be the end of a too-long series of politically-oriented posts.

Recently, my wife happened to be watching some coverage where Obama was talking about pay equity and his stance on the matter as well as McCain’s stance.  When our little girl overheard that women were making less for their efforts than men doing the same work and that McCain (supposedly) is content to leave things as such, she got infuriated.  She was shocked to find that such inequalities existed and mad that McCain is okay with that fact.  There are very few issues that either candidate is likely to speak about that would hit home with four year-olds.  But this issue resonated with her, and if she had the right to vote I have no doubt for whom she would be voting.

I tried to watch W. the other night and couldn’t get through more than a minute of it before changing the channel.  There is a reason that his approval rating is so low and I’m reminded of it every time he opens his mouth.  But last night I DID manage to watch all of Sarah Palin’s introductory/acceptance speech.  I listened, I kept an open mind, and in the end I still found myself annoyed and rolling my eyes.  It was a good speech and she said the right things to convince the conservative base that she is the right person for the job.  But she didn’t say anything that would woo me in their direction.  While I’m glad that she said “no thanks” to the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’, there is no amount of rhetoric that will convince me that drilling for more oil anywhere is a good idea (much like I could not be convinced that hunting for terrorists and WMDs in Iraq was a good idea).  I also am not convinced that there is such a thing as clean coal technology.

I can see that the experience card is going to get played a lot on both sides from now until November.  But I think from an objective standpoint, you have to agree that Obama’s experience is more extensive than Palin’s.  While yes, mayor and governor jobs are more similar to the presidency than legislative positions, Obama has probably had to handle and be aware of more president-related issues in his 4 years in the senate than Palin may have been exposed to in the remote state of Alaska.  Also, the comparison is generally moot since Palin is only the VP – for that job, legislative experience is actually more valuable than executive experience which makes Biden the better VP candidate in this election.  And while McCain inarguably has way more experience than Obama in his Senate tenure, that doesn’t change the fact that Obama echos the sentiments I care about and is gunning for changes I want to see on more levels than McCain.

So in the end, Palin can convey well what is written for her (she should be able to being a former beauty queen and sportscaster), but she doesn’t convey any of the ideals with which I agree and there is nothing in her experience or character to which I’m drawn (though some might say she at least has the MILF-factor – not sure that is enough for a vote).  It seems to me that the GOP is opting to use her to say the harsher things that McCain shouldn’t say himself.  But I’d imagine we will see the same tactic from the Democrats in the weeks to come, and I think it will have more weight coming from someone who is actually in the trenches and knows a thing or two about DC.  People may argue about whether Palin was properly vetted, at this point, I’m not going to complain.  Based on what I’ve seen, McCain and Co. are doing what they need to do to secure this election … for Obama.