I have been a political junkie all my life.

The first time I remember being interested in an election was when I was 8 years old. My grandmother was puzzled as to why her granddaughter was so determined to remain awake until the final results for the 1976 presidential election came in. She was not a political type and neither was her husband. Yet, she had to fight me tooth and nail to get me to go to sleep when I was clearly on the verge of nodding off while trying to stay glued to the television until the bitter end. She won that battle. But the next morning the first words out of my mouth were to ask who won. Was President Ford still the president? Or did Jimmy Carter win? I was too young at the time to really tell the difference between the two politically, but I knew the race was important because they were fighting to be President of the United States.

Now in the year 2008 I fear that I am on the verge of having no delight in what has been one of my great passions in life.

Why?

This election is historic. It is the first time in 80 years that there is no sitting President or Vice President running for office. You would think that would be a good thing. The more candidates, the more options the better, right? Wrong! The sameness among the field without any distinct choices has left me feeling quite melancholy about the foreseeable future. Who will lead? And will they lead us in the right direction? I can't say. But I don't foresee this election doing this country much good in the long or short term. I think it will leave us more divided than ever.

Politics and its historical ramifications were one of the few interests that I shared with my father. I have felt his loss even more so with this election falling so soon after his death. He and I were two peas in a pod when it came to politics. On this, we saw eye to eye. I could sit and talk to him for hours about the state of the nation and its leaders. We would handicap the races and talk about the odds for each potential candidate being elected. It was sheer bliss.

But this feeling of dissatisfaction and unease with the choices presented is a unique experience for me. I have not been so adamantly opposed to so many candidates in my life. I grew up with Ronald Reagan being larger than life. He led this nation during the time that I really became politically aware and he remains the standard by which I judge all those who run. Now we have pundits and leaders we had grown to respect tell us that all of the values and principles that Reagan stood for is over. They say we should get over ourselves and accept this new path.

And it leaves me asking the question - Is this it? Is this all there is? And that leaves me quite sad indeed.