Proud to be an American

Last week was the election, and we got to go to an amazing party downtown, sponsored by the embassy. It was non-political, officially, and there did seem to be people there who supported both major candidates. I was actually surprised at how many Mexicans were there! Aparantly, there is great interest in the US election process, not only the final candidate (at least among college-educated mexicans.)
In Mexico, every citizen has a national ID card, that is used to prove citizenship and voter identification. All mexicans must carry this at all times, and must present it when asked. They can use this to get on domestic flights, to get a job, to register legal documets, etc. This is NOT a driver's license, and citizens can take this card with them, even if they move from state to state. Thus, all of the federal elections are run by the federal government and anyone can vote anywhere in the country as long as they show their voter ID card. This allows people to vote near work or home, or even on vacation. And, the federal elections are basically just popular votes - whoever gets the most votes wins.
Compare this to the US elections - 18 mo. ago we had nearly 20 major candidates, who duked it out for superiority within their own party. Then, we had 6 mo. of fighting between two major candidates. The winner was the one who most effectively "got out the vote". Thousands of absentee voter ballots were not counted. Up to 25% of US citizens who tried to vote had trouble doing so bc they could not provide acurate ID to match their name on the voter rolls. People stood in line for hours, despite a polling center blocks away that may have had no line.
Don't even get me started on the electoral college!
In the end, though, I was shouting "Yes, We Can! Si, se puede!" at the top of my lungs and humming "God Bless the USA" for a few days.