Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying.

Wow. Hard to believe that election day is finally here. The missus and I went to the local polling place about 20 minutes before it opened and our timing was just about perfect. We weren't the first in line, but we were close enough that it took just a few moments to sign in and get into the booth once they opened. It seemed like everyone else arrived 5 minutes after us -- I took a brief stroll just before they opened the doors, and there must have been a hundred people waiting in line behind us.

This is the first election since 1992 where I was genuinely enthused about my choice -- I voted for That One -- and I am filled with hope and optimism about what will happen over the next four years if he wins. And, needless to say, I will be seriously disappointed if he loses.

I'm realistic, though. I know that (to paraphrase Hilary Clinton's memorable remarks during the primaries) if Obama wins, we won't have celestial choirs singing, telling everyone will that we should all do the right thing. And the VRWC has made it known that they plan to pick up right where they left off in January 2001, so any progress won't be made without battles on every front. But I think that we are a very different country now than we were in the late 1990s, and that voters will have less patience for smears. I think that the country will welcome legitimate policy debates over some of his plans (Joe the Plumber's original discussion with Obama before the debate, for example), but I don't think that we'll see much tolerance for things like an Obama Death List. (He said hopefully.)

In short, I am cautiously optimistic. But I don't want to jinx anything. Fingers crossed!