We make it much too difficult to vote in this country. I won't be in the New York area this election day, and it's taken me several days of false starts and research to figure out how to vote in-person absentee. I took a chance this morning and trekked down to the Brooklyn Board of Elections first thing. Once there, I had a bit of trouble understanding the logic of how the paper ballot was laid out. I finally voted, hallelujah. But let's make election day a national holiday so at least people aren't struggling to cast their ballot while at the same time worrying about getting back to work.

Today marked one first and one near-first experience for me. First the near-first. Since I've been a legal resident of Washington DC beginning in college and until last November, it's been about a decade since I've had the opportunity to vote for a United States Senator. To be honest, I'm not even sure if I ever have voted for one. It felt gooood to fill in the bubble for Senator Clinton. (About a half million Americans living in the nation's capitol aren't represented by a Senator or a voting Congressman. Learn more about DC voting rights.) And for the first -- I voted for a Republican. Though if you follow New York politics, you probably know which one and why.