Finally...

Election Day emotions - excited/anxious

Weekend wrap-up later...for now:

The most vivid election night memory I have is the 2000 Bush/Gore election. I stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning. I remember flipping back and forth between the big three networks and CNN; Dan Rather and his "Ratherisms", Tim Russert and his dry erase board...

Going to class the next day, all prep the professors had was thrown out the window. The election was all that was discussed, whether we were in Ethics, Criminal Law, or Legal Writing. The most interesting was Constitutional Law. Now, the case of Bush v. Gore is discussed in Con Law for it's ruling regarding the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. I particularly remember Tracey being livid about the results. Bill and I had talked over the summer before heading back to school and he said something like, "I'm voting based on the social issues, I'm scared what might happen if the election were to go the other way. I'm voting for you and every other woman." I remember laughing at this, because if you know Bill...you would laugh too. It sounded like a bad pickup line. However, I know he was being completely honest in one of his reasons.

Who knew everything that would transpire in the following 8 years? The liberties conceded in the name of security have been scary. I hope there's a way to swing it back the other way. I understand there are viable threats to this country. I understand that some encroachment of our personal rights and liberties is necessary to ensure our security. However, the "it's in the best interest of the country" argument has been used too often without question to expand on said encroachments. I hope this is one of the issues that the next President addresses, whether it be McCain or Obama. Too much was given without looking at the long term costs...