One election that I voted in and not quite an election.

I was in sleep away camp and went down to the mess hall for some... mess.  On my way back someone mentioned something about something about the President, but I really did not know what they were talking about.  I went about the rest of my day; Which in camp comprises swimming, talking to girls, playing sports, talking to more girls, and then eating, and then talking to more girls.  Later that night after having done all of the above and in the process of talking to some girls, counselors started shouting and screaming and running up and down the campus.  They were running out of the mess hall.  I never saw anyone that happy about anything.  I had to find out what they were screaming about.  So after getting run over by an 19 year old lunatic, I got off the ground, dusted off and in his scraggly bearded - wild haired - eyes bugging out voice screamed 'Nixon got impeached'.  It took a day and a half to understand the importance of this, but I already knew that counselors would have to leave camp to go fight in the war, and I saw many of them crying as they found out about their friends not making it back from Vietnam, and I remember one in shock when he got 'his number'.  This was my introduction to politics.

Now that I am a father of 3 this election is the start of my children's interest in politics.  They knew 'kind of' about Iraq, and the economy, but not really.  My sons are in college, and this election energized them in the way the counselors were running out of the mess hall.  They saw this election as a pivotal point in American History, and now they got to vote in the election and they got to participate in the democratic process.  They changed from Independent to vote in the primary, and back to Independent to vote in the election.  They attended rallies, read material, and we had family discussions about issues that affect us, other Americans, how we are viewed abroad, and what is in their and America's best interest for the future.   My daughter voted in school, she is under voting age, and stayed up to find out who won Pennsylvania, but couldn't make it past that point.  First thing in the morning she wanted to know - who won?  She is already political, has her strong opinions, and voiced them loudly.  She is the proud owner of pins, stickers, and her own very firm beliefs.  This election brought together a nation of many different ethnicities, backgrounds, and as in our case, families.  Whether Barack Obama goes down in History as another JFK, MLK, FDR,  Lincoln - or not - I will always remember this election for how it brought our family together, united us in our beliefs and discussions, and liberated my children in only the way America can. 

 

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Finance expert Alan Klayman is the founder of the MyIncomeStrategy.com® program, which is designed to help people determine how to derive their retirement income from their assets without any investment bias! With over 25 years' experience, Klayman has helped over 10,000 individuals and advisors one on one, and many thousands more in hundreds of seminars, develop income strategies, as well as estate plans and other finance-related solutions. For questions, contact him at  alk@myincomestrategy.com  Or.. http://www.myincomestrategy.com/strategy.cfm