It's still months away, but I am excited about the upcoming election. This year has already proven to be like none other. Imagine…no, you don't have to imagine. It is reality: A woman. An African American. A Mormon. A divorced war hero. A preacher. A doctor turned libertarian congressman. Aren't you proud to be an American?
     I was able to watch a live online broadcast of Barack Obama's rally at the Target Center on Saturday. I would have loved to be there in person but tickets went faster than you can say, "Twenty-four hours." It wasn't the same as being part of the audience, but the Internet version was close. I plan to watch the Hilary Clinton and Mitt Romney appearances on kare11.com, also. Whichever way I view it, I can't get enough of the debates, the speeches, even the continual political analysis.
     I've written about my love of politics before. Watching conventions and election night returns with my parents. My first glimpse of a real live politician that day my father sped down Franklin Avenue with me in the passenger seat of his car. Dad pulled over to the curb just before Park Avenue and told me to get out fast. We ran to join the crowd lined up along the street. It was nearly 48 years ago, but I can still see the long black car carrying John Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey as it zoomed past us on its way to the Minneapolis Auditorium. Dad took a picture of them and I waved like crazy.
     My father backed Kennedy. We had a sign in our front yard that said so. I remember Dad being upset when detractors said JFK, if elected, would build a tunnel under the ocean and connect it to the Pope in Rome. The night of the election, my parents held a party, inviting the neighbors and many friends. It was a school night but my sister and I were allowed to stay up late.
     The men sported straw skimmers and the women wore red, white and blue neck scarves. Dad placed stuffed elephants and donkeys, the mascots of the Republican and Democratic parties, all around the house. Small black and white televisions were set up in the kitchen, dining room and living room so everyone could watch the votes be tallied. Some guests watched the bigger television in the lower level rec room. My parents may have been the only Kennedy supporters in the house that night, but it wasn't important. An election was a big thing no matter which candidate you rooted for.
     It feels like we have returned to that level of excitement once again. In fact, after Caroline Kennedy, her uncle and cousin endorsed Barack Obama with invigorating speeches, Chris Matthews of MSNBC commented that when young people ask what the political scene was like in the 1960s, this was it. I reiterated Matthews' comments to my son and told him, once again, of the day my father and I waved at our soon-to-be President as his car passed. A few days later, he said my story spurred a desire to bring his 15-year-old daughter to the Obama rally. He'd been disappointed to learn there were no tickets left. I told him they could watch it together online. Forty-eight years from now, it may be one of the memories his daughter holds dear.