We are all Internet Americans now. OK, Barack Obama actually didn't say that in his nomination-acceptance speech Thursday night. But he could have, because the great thing about this campaign is that you don't have to watch TV or consume the news when it's pushed down to you by big media. You can learn about the candidates when you want, how you want (for example, Obama's speech can be viewed here). All the more reason that it's incumbent upon you to exercise your duty as a voter.The panoply of available resources range from the expected (Obama's official site and John McCain's), to the hokey (Obama's MySpace page and McCain's Facebook page). (I should ping him, and link up with another Facebook friend I've never met!)

There's also a wealth of heavy-duty online political news, which beats the drama-queen anchor battles permeating cable-TV news coverage. (I'm referring of course to the recent snit between MSNBC hosts Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann.)

My final thought about this political season is an optimistic one. Namely, this time 'round it's really hard to be as cynical about the process as we're all accustomed to being. I firmly believe that both candidates have life stories, which, at their core, speak to the very best that this country has to offer. It makes me proud to be an American.

Of course, after Obama's nomination and McCain's selection at next week's Republican convention, it'll be time to go back to worrying about the many serious problems facing this country, and how each of these guys plan to move us forward. (Can they? I hope so.) But for now, we can bask in a brief, self-congratulatory moment and say, to ourselves and the rest of the world, that there's still something about U.S. ideals which are pretty special.

[My one critical thought following Thursday night's Democratic convention wrap-up -- forgive me; I couldn't resist -- is that I was disappointed at Sheryl Crow's rather lackluster performance. She did three songs as one of the early evening musical acts which warmed up the crowd prior to Obama's speech. As my three regular readers know, I'm a big Sheryl Crow fan.]

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