All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down

At this time in 2004, my entire life revolved around the Presidential campaign, and I was not alone. Although I was yet to delve into Daily Kos, there was an assortment of other election blogs I visited multiple times daily, including the conservative blog JayReding.com where I always offered a counterpoint. I also regularly visited Swing State Project (back when it was a Presidential election blog) and the Election Projection site. In the 2006 midterms, I was a regular on the same sites and also posted election thoughts on this blog, and connected with a number of people from both sides of the political aisle who shared my passion for the respective contests. And I just got to thinking this past week that the majority of the election junkies I talked to back then are either absentee or considerably less engaged this cycle.

Perhaps the conventions in the weeks to come with lift me out of my Election '08 lethargy, but I've been predicting the turning of that corner for quite some time now. The campaign has gone on way too long and even most of us who love the horse race can't seem to find the energy to spend multiple hours per day obsessing about it like we used to. With that in mind, I hope the next election follows a more traditional course, with the entire campaign playing out over the course of less than 12 months rather than the nearly 24 months of this contest.