Early voting is a great idea since America has not declared Election Day a national holiday. The fact is that there are many people out there who have employment situations that do not support voting during the time allocated on Election Day. There are others (myself included) who are registered to vote in a town that is an hour and a half away from where I live. So guess who gets to make the drive back to his hometown to vote and then make the drive back to his apartment to wait for the results on Election Day… That’s right!

There are any number of reasons why early election is a good idea. What about the truck driver who lives in Nebraska, but happens to be on an assignment to Maine? That person isn’t voting on Election Day no matter what they do! Sure, they could apply for an absentee ballot, but that’s about as inefficient as you can get (plus, most of the time the absentee ballots aren’t counted for days or weeks after the election).

At the same time, early voting is a horrible idea if you really aren’t firmly behind a candidate. In other words, if you go to the polls on the Saturday before the election just because it fits your schedule, can you be sure that you made the right decision? What if one of the candidates comes out with some ridiculously outlandish statements in the last 48 hours of the campaign? What if one of their major policy positions is diced up and mutilated by their fellow party members (think Obama’s tax plan in the mouths of Joe Biden and Bill Richardson)? In the year 2000, FOX News broke a story about then-Governor George W. Bush and his drunk driving revelations. Many people think that this negative story on Bush in the last few days of the election cost him the popular vote. Who knows?

Then again if you’re voraciously in favor of one candidate over another, then early voting is probably a good option for you. In the end, though, let’s remember that diversifying our voting methods is a good thing for America!

In an odd circumstance, it appears that the story coming out of Iowa is all about New Hampshire. Given the close time frame between the two contests, all of the candidates spent last night in Iowa (except McCain and Giuliani) and woke up this morning in New Hampshire. For the Republicans, I think we’re in for a tough fight between McCain and Romney in New Hampshire and there is always the possibility of having the Huckabee surge continue and overtake either of the front runners. If Huckabee places a close second to McCain or wins, I think it’ll signal the end for the Romney campaign. The x factor here is whether or not the New Hampshire voters are swayed by Iowa and the inevitability of Romney going big-time negative with his campaigning.

For the Democrats, I think we’ve got an interesting situation going on. Clinton is not one to take losing in Iowa lightly, so the x factor for the Republican race carries over to the Democratic race, too. It is almost inevitable that the Clinton war machine will fire up and start throwing some attacks at Obama and Edwards now that she’s in 3rd place. How the New Hampshire voters respond to this will set the stage for the primary vote. And I think everyone needs to keep an eye on Bill Richardson. Governor Richardson claimed this morning that entrance polls showed him at 10% going into the caucuses last night. If this is true (and it seems true) and the Biden, Dodd, and disenfranchised supporters go to Richardson, then he could possibly poll at 13% – 15% going into the primary elections in the Western states, where he is expected to do well. Richardson taking a strong third place finish behind Obama and Clinton after Super Tuesday is over isn’t out of the question by any means.

And finally, there is the independent factor in these races, which I think benefits only Ron Paul. When I say independent, I’m talking about those people who are apolitical or those who despise Republicans and Democrats equally. Congressman Paul has made a small impact on the Republican race and I think that if he plays his cards right he can make a much bigger one in the Presidential race. He’s obviously not going to win the nomination, but he has the support and now he has the name recognition to drop out of the race some time in April and join with Michael Bloomberg and his band of independent, bipartisan thinkers. If this happens (and it seems somewhat unlikely), then I would bet a Ron Paul independent run could pull as much as 25% of the national vote, if not more.

But that’s the pipe dream stance in the overall picture. Now, add Richardson to the Bloomberg/Paul scenario and I believe you’ve got a bipartisan Presidential winner in 2008.