ONCE EVERY 44 YEARS – – WHETHER I NEED IT OR NOT

My first legal vote for president was cast in 1964. It was an absentee vote mailed in from a faraway land. That was not a particularly interesting election but, because I was in another country, I did not get to watch the election play out.

In 1968 I got out of the military a number of weeks before the presidential election. I could not get enough of that wild election process. I had time to watch it all and That's exactly what I did.

As much as I truly love to simply watch presidential elections play out, I managed to commit myself to one campaign or another every presidential election year from 1972 through 2008. During that time I never got to kick back and watch the political battle. I was, instead, a part – however small – of it. Please believe me when I tell you it can either be a participant or a consuming spectator but you cannot be both.

Now one hotly contested primary season will play out and a fierce general election contest. For the first time in 44 years, I can sit back and watch the war.

Don't call me on debate nights.

Peace/Out