Trying out civic duty

MALDEN - The polling place was so crowded that the voters were practically on top of each other. They stood on tip-toe, peering at the head of the line, chatting to pass the time. Despite the delay, everybody was cheerful.

They had waited this long. They could wait a little longer. They were all terribly excited.

The candidates had done all they could to convince the electorate that they would be the best president for these troubled times. Now it was time to vote.

Would Miss Froggy carry the day? Or would Mr. Lion prevail? The amphibian promised the voters more candy and ice cream. It was a persuasive pitch, given the fact that her targets were 4 years old, students at the Rockland Montessori School here.

Her carnivorous competitor had a less glamorous platform, vowing to make voters feel safer in their homes, promising more police officers and faster ambulances.

Carol Wishoski, who heads the school, has run elections like this each November for the last 17 years. Every year, one giant stuffed creature appeals to the kids' sugar penchant, the other to their sense of community. The ebullient Wishoski sneaks some civic lessons into the show.

"In our country, we are a democracy," she explained before the vote began. "And guess what, in some other countries, people don't have that gift, to vote for leaders."

She said: "The most important thing you can ever do is vote in an election. Do you know some people don't vote? They let somebody else decide who their leaders are going to be. Isn't that awful?"

The children got quiet. Talk turned to the other presidential election, and Wishoski invited her charges to say whom their parents supported. A dozen kids said Barack Obama (one little girl called him "Iraq Obama").

One bright-eyed, cherubic boy named Nicholas said his mother and his yaya, his Greek grandmother, were going for McCain.

Waiting in the line to vote, Nicholas got edgy, unbuttoning and buttoning his shirt. Others tugged at each other. Fingers found mouths and went up noses.

Wishoski had appointed some campaign managers. In one corner, a boy and girl shouted, "Vote for Miss Froggy!" tossing the toy in the air. They were outmatched by the two girls and the boy on the other side, whose shouts of "Vote for Mr. Lion!" were loud and relentless. At one point, a little girl holding the public safety candidate bopped a colleague on the head with it.

At first it looked as if it would be a near-unanimous Froggy victory, but the Lion supporters were so deafening that the tide began to turn about halfway through the vote. In the biggest scandal of the day, Sophia, one of Froggy's campaign managers, succumbed to their influence and cast her ballot for her leonine opponent.

Most times, the public safety candidate trumps the sugar-pusher, Wishoski said. This week, however, Froggy trounced Lion, 21-14.

Those who had voted green were practically jumping out of their skin when the results were announced. "I was so happy," Nicholas said, pausing thoughtfully. "One of those votes might be mine."

In any other election year, this would be the point at which we wonder what becomes of that enthusiasm. Where we lament the apathy of the multitudes sitting at home on a Tuesday, letting others decide who their leaders are going to be. Where we shake our head and wonder how such indifference creeps into the American electorate between 4 and 18.

Not this year. This year, something rare and wonderful unfolded across this country: record turnout, long lines, amazing enthusiasm. People brought their cameras and their children. Their eyes welled with the day's significance.

They were cheerful, despite the delays. They had waited this long. They could wait a little longer. They were all terribly excited.