Long Live Democracy

After more than two years of positioning, primaries, debates, sparring, more debates, and endless punditry and prognosticating, it all comes down to tonight. Polls begin to close on the East Coast at 7 PM tonight, and shortly afterward we should be getting the first results of the most hyped and expensive election in the history of the United States. I cannot wait. The sheer volume of information that will be coming in is mind-boggling; not only is the White House up for grabs, but 435 House seats and 33 Senate seats are in play. The Democrats are attempting to tighten their grasp on both the House and Senate, while the Republicans fight an uphill battle on all fronts.

GO VOTE. If you haven't already, GO DO IT. I don't care if you vote for Barack Obama, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, or write-in your own name...just go do it and vote your conscience. 18- to 25-year olds vote far less frequently than any other age group, despite the fact that we have so much stake in it. The kinds of issues that have come up in this election and that the next President and Congress will deal with are those that will affect us for the rest of our lives. Conventional political wisdom does not regard 18- to 25-year olds as an influential voting bloc (as it does with seniors, union workers, etc) because so few of us just do not go and vote. Our voices don't get heard, our beliefs don't get expressed, and decisions are being made without our input or approval. College costs, climate change, our financial policies, the war in Iraq, education, Social Security and our budget crisis are only a FEW of the issues that our generation is going to have to deal with in the future, and we aren't having our say. It's infuriating. GO VOTE.

And now for some predictions.

President (popular vote %)
Barack Obama: 52%
John McCain: 47%
(Obama takes the Electoral College, 313-201)

Pennsylvania 4th Congressional District
Jason Altmire: 54%
Melissa Hart: 45%