It has become quite fashionable to bemoan the tide of political events lately, and the state of the nation, proclaiming things would be better if a giant meteor struck the Earth. At the very least, it seems de rigeur to announce that one cannot wait until the election is over.
Not yours truly. As I've told several friends, I pretty much live for these times. I feel like I was born for them.
Yes, I admit it is a little distracting, given that I have other things I want to do, and other projects to pursue. Since my youth I have felt compelled to absorb as much election news as possible, in order to be a witness to it all, if nothing else. This obsession goes back to 1972, and I feel it is one of the reasons I can approach the current time with a perspective of history that many of my cohort do not have, since they may not have been so obsessed as I was.
Newspapers and television were my staple in the early days. In the Fall of 1996, in graduate school in Austin, I used to come into the lab in the Statistical Mechanics Center in the physics building and boot up USENET to peruse the newsgroups where people posted the latest polls between Dole and Clinton (Note if I ever meet Bob Dole I would shake his hand and apologize for not voting for him).
In 2012, four years ago, I came as close to not caring and tuning out as I ever have done. In 2008, I was passionate for Obama, as much as I had been for any candidate in my life. By 2012 I had come to change my opinion about him drastically, and Romney was abhorrent to me.
But all that seems ancient history now. I love this election. I don't see how Hillary has a chance at all, personally, but even if she did pull it off, I would still consider this the greatest election my lifetime. At this point, I can live with the aftermath, no matter what.
I will miss this time. I am savoring every hour of it. How about you?
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