If the United States of America or Britain is having elections they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections they want observers.

I was up late last night yapping about the elections on CNN and up early this morning doing the same thing in my daughter's kindergarten class.

I'm not overly alarmist about it but I do think there are some worrying signs like the growing accumulation of wealth by a very small proportion of the population plus elections in the US are much more dominated by money than anywhere else calling itself a democracy.

Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on it adds up.

These endless legal challenges that define elections in New York are a joke in this country and they are the reason why it is so expensive or one of the reasons it's so expensive to run here and why so many people decide not to run.

I supported my friend Congressman Shuler over former Speaker Nancy Pelosi during our party's leadership elections in November citing a need for new leadership.

That U.N. Security Council resolution requires getting Syrian troops and intelligence officials out of Lebanon so that the Lebanese can have elections here this spring that are free and fair and free of outside influence.

I think about my parents all the time especially on Sunday when I'm at Mass. My mother always said 'We do not pray to win elections. We pray for people's health we pray that God's will be done we pray that we do our best. But we do not pray to win elections.'

Apparently a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.

In Scotland the indication is that for the Westminster elections at least Labour voters are satisfied with their government.