I voted this morning in my tiny little town in Massachusetts - so small that we fill in our ballots with #2 pencils and feed them into an honest to god ballot box, that even goes "ding!" when cranked. My kids love that. So do I.
There was a slight delay at the sign in desk. The three people in front of me, two immigrants and an old man in a wheel chair wanted to get their picture taken.
This, you see, was the first time they'd voted. Obama and Warren got them to the polls. They were so happy and proud - and so was I. There's something magical about the small town voting process, and there's definitely something magical about seeing people voting for the first time.
And in the back of my mind, I'm hearing the pundits talk about how this election will be so close that, if Obama wins, he won't have a mandate.
But he will have a mandate - it just will not be a white male mandate. It will be a female mandate and a black mandate and an hispanic mandate and an immigrant mandate and a mandate of the sick and of the young and of the people who just need a little help.
A new mandate, sure, but ultimately an American mandate.
And, speaking as a middle aged white guy, ain't that grand?