Everyone's excited.

Well, let me rephrase that. A lot of people are excited. And it's only February.

There are some people not so excited. Some people who seem to have just woken up in the middle of a storm and realized they never bought a winter coat.

But Democrats are excited. All eyes are on them.

And the eyes on them are excited, because they've got something to talk about for the next eight months.

The Republicans seem a little sleepy-eyed at the moment. They didn't think they'd have to talk so soon. There are no real primaries or caucuses in the Republican party this year. The choice has been made, and no one is stupid enough to challenge the Prez.

But why are they having to do anything right now? Maybe because this election is shaping up to be a big brawl. The kind of fight that will, once again, split the country in two. Not actually split the country, but bring out of the closet the beliefs most of us don't talk about in mixed company.

A lot of us, myself included, didn't think the last four years of Bush would be as bad as they ended up being. I thought all the doomsayers in 2000 were doing just that--whipping up the politic in a basically boring election.

So this year, this time, we're not falling into complacency. We're not underestimating the opponent again. We're not going to stand by and let our candidate pussy-foot around, looking like a wooden board.

Speaking of, even Al Gore has figured out how to campaign (better late than never, I guess). In 2000, I don't think I ever saw him raise his voice. I saw a clip from a recent weekend fundraising event with him looking like JFK on speed, and I wondered where this guy came from. And why wasn't he around four years ago?

And, of course, the polls are always exciting when you're winning. If the election were held today (blah, blah, blah, condition, condition, condition), Kerry beats out Bush by almost ten points. That's enough to stymie most of the vote tampering that goes on. Hard to make up ten points without it looking fake.

But hey, it's early. There's still the long haul of eight months to go.

Try not to run out of steam. Can't blow our wad early, and let the slow and steady come back to win. Something the Republicans are counting on--well, they're counting on it now, anyway.

I don't think they really thought they'd have to be on the defensive in February. The Democrats were supposed to fight amongst themselves a little longer. Tear each other down a little more before Bush had to even acknowledge he's running for President again. Much less running against another candidate.

I hope, however, all this early year hoopla can last. If the populace cares about it now, then hopefully they can sustain their enthusiasm.

The big fight is coming. We can all smell it. But we have to make sure there's something left in October, something of this vigor, to finish the race.

Dig your heels in, there's a long way to go.

Matt Worley is in it for the long run.