ELECTION DAY!!!!

I love this country. I love our Freedom and our Democracy, but in this era of change I have some ideas.

Number One: If you run for President you should have to give up your current governmental position to do so. Why? Two reasons. First, if you run and lose, you keep your job and raise your profile, which helps serve, well, you. Your speaking fees most likely go up, and you probably get invited on to more Sunday morning talk shows then the other senators. Second, while spending almost two years campaigning and fund raising, how much work are you actually doing for your state? In a senator's case this can often be a good thing for those he represents, but if the Governor isn't around, I think that's a bigger problem. So give up your seat or Governor's chair, and really run for President to serve the people. If you lose, well that's the sacrifice you made for our democracy.

Number Two: Make voting more secure. Why is it that I feel like the old guy who sits next to the machine is sizing me up and can easily invalidate my vote with a push of a button. We are supposed to be the icon of freedom and democracy I'd like to know that that's true. I don't necessarily want it to be as bad as getting on to a plane, but there should be something more than old people you could knock over because you spoke to loudly protecting the integrity of the vote.

Number Three: No more polls. It seems that the readers of IcebergCarwash agree with this, since no one really votes, even on a poll about voting. But as far as this country goes, I wonder how things would shake out if sheeple didn't know what the polls were saying. What would happen if Americans actually had to make a decision on their own? In a country with Freedom of the Press (yaay!)we will thankfully not silence the Olbermans, Matthews,Courics and Williams, but we could stop publicizing polls, I really don't know what benefit they serve.

So these are my thoughts for today. I love that we live in a country, that no matter how disappointed people are with the result of today's vote there will be no burning cars (a sacred act, reserved for when one's sports team wins a championship), shootings, or bombings in response.

I've said this many times, but my absolute favorite moment of democracy was after the vote on the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton, a contentious time to be sure, Tom Daschle and Trent Lott shook hands, smiled, and life went back to normal.

Let's Hope.