If we could strip away the implications today’s election will have on our country – and, really, the whole world – for the next four years…if it wasn’t for all the nervousness Americans will experience as they await the results…if so many people wouldn’t get so upset about our choice as the next president of the United States…if not for all that, these elections would sure be a lot of fun.

How good is it to visit a polling place, cast a vote, feel as though one’s voice has been heard then wear one of those “I voted” stickers for the rest of day? And it doesn’t end there. We sit around and wait to see whether Fox News is going to declare Florida for George Bush but then change its mind. Wait, wrong election.

Really, though, what’s better than an election? We all get the opportunity to make a statement in favor of democracy by casting a vote, and then the entire country watches what amounts to one very, very important football game. Democracy, football and stickers. Today is quite a day, indeed, folks.

That might lead one to wonder why we don’t do this voting thing more often. Not as in why voter turnout is so low for anything that won’t result in a new president. Instead, why we don’t vote on more aspects of our governance and life in general. Some ideas:

The price of gas. A lot of people involved in the business might lose a lot of money.

Whether to abolish Congress. This would be favored by those that think a president should be able to do whatever he wants, and no one should argue. Forget socialism, how about fascism!?

Which wins a fight, a bear or a gorilla. This dilemma provided hours of impassioned debate at my high school lunch table. I’m still firmly in the bear’s corner, but a national referendum might be the only way short of offending PETA to determine the winner. Claws and teeth, people, claws and teeth.

Foreign policy stances. Iran? Bomb ‘em! North Korea? Bomb ‘em! France? Bomb, er, wait, you mean we’re out of bombs?

On second thought, maybe it’s a good thing our Founding Fathers established a republic instead of a direct democracy. But that doesn’t mean we can’t all vote today like the future of our country depends on it.