Today we vote...

... and then we don't have to think about political ads for another two years. THANK GOD.

Yes, I know, my particular window for viewing the election is a rather narrow one. But, still. Politicians, or rather their offices, are an absolute bugger to deal with for advertising purposes. They run oodles of ads, they change everything at the last minute, they nitpick every teeny tiny thing on their ad, they call up at 2 p.m. trying to place a full-page color ad for the next day...

As one of my co-workers commented a few days ago, working in the advertising department, you definitely learn who not to vote for ...

I actually feel pretty positively about the governor's race this year. While I do have my preference, I think I'll be content no matter which candidate wins. It's a nice change from wanting to claw my way through the screen screaming "NO! DON'T VOTE FOR HIM!"

Some of the other races are a different matter. Don Young, by the way, has been representing us in Congress since 1973. 1973! I wasn't even BORN! He doesn't even bother debating his opponents or campaigning anymore. He just kinda shows up at the end, collects his votes and moseys back off to D.C.

It may be strange, but ...

... I love watching the election results come in. At least partly, this fascination dates back to my childhood, I think; my dad was politically active and encouraged us to be, so election nights meant staying up 'till midnight with the TV on, watching the voting tallies get incremented and cheering on one side or the other. (My mother put up with it; for her, politics was something that happened to other people.) Now it's the Internet rather than the TV, but in a way it's even better because you have so much control -- I'll typically spend election night surfing between various states' returns, watching referendums I'd never heard of get voted in or down, watching the close races and the landslides. Alaska has the farthest-west precincts, too, so by the time our poll results start coming in, many of the other states' races are already decided. It makes AK the perfect place to watch the other states' results without having to wait for morning to see how it'll all shape up. I *do* think it's important to be informed about this sort of thing, but that doesn't explain the visceral excitement that I get out of it -- it's like the ultimate spectator sport, one that has very real consequences.