electioneering

I've just recently realized that I really, really like politics. It took me by surprise. Up until a few months ago, I was one of those people - the ones that are simultaneously annoyed at and bored with any mention of anything remotely political. Whenever anyone around me would try to interject a sneaky, politically-toned comment into everyday conversation, I would basically do the cover-your-ears-and-go-la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you thing.

Looking back, I guess my initial attitude towards politics was one of exasperation, and I don't think I'm alone in that. My limited understanding of it all gave me the impression that politics automatically equaled snide, trivial backstabbing, rifts between friends, and shouting. And then in came Patrick. Not that he immediately canceled my knee-jerk reaction to politics, unfortunately for him (he really likes talking about politics...sorry for all the eye rolls of the past), but he did eventually get me to absorb a little bit of what really went on in politics. The more I knew, the more I liked it, the more I wanted to talk to other people about it and see what they thought.

I hope it's obvious that I don't fancy myself completely knowledgeable in politics, because I'm definitely not. But, I do have more solidly-based opinions, and a shockingly strong interest in all things political. What most surprises me is how much I look forward to reading those crazy Time magazine articles, or how much time I find myself spending on watching the debates, or, most surprising of all, how much I actually do care about it all.

This small epiphany has probably been fueled by the hugeness that is this election of 2008. There's really no way to go about your daily business without hearing something - anything - about it. Hopefully, it helps spark the same interest in younger people in this country that formerly resided within the select few. It'd be awfully nice if the otherwise-screwed (think about our economy, our environment, our foreign relations...and the predicted paths of space debris) Generation X and younger started to collectively care about what goes on.