Remembering the 2000 Election

As the Democratic Caucus in Iowa begins, and I have a window open to Drudge, MSNBC's First Read and Politico.com (and, of course, MSNBC's coverage on TV), I can't help but think back to the 2000 Election.

I was a senior in high school and I was volunteering for the Voter News Service to report the outcome from my local precinct. As I went in to volunteer I had a spring in my step as I heard on the radio that the state of Florida had been called for Al Gore, and it seemed to seal the election for Gore and the Democrats. To my dismay, a few hours later, Florida was back in the undecided column. I spent hours that night, watching MSNBC and CNN and refreshing the voter totals from Florida as they came in. I kept track of the Florida vote on a legal pad, back and forth, as 95% of the precincts reported, then 96% and 97%. I finally fell asleep around 3:00 a.m., with nothing determined, and as we know, nothing was decided for weeks, so I could have gone to bed earlier. But that night was tense and fun and exhilarating. Like tonight. And as I have a map up of Iowa, with a county-by-county breakdown of the votes as they are reported (which can be found on Politico.com) and I keep waiting for each small report to trickle in, it's like 2000 all over again.

I just hope the night has a better, and earlier resolution.