Earlier this month we saw former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee(R) come out of nowhere to handily win the Iowa Republican caucus,while freshman Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former SenatorJohn Edwards (D-N.C.) both defeated the Clinton machine thatpreviously seemed unstoppable. Then, five days later, Senator JohnMcCain (R-Ariz.) handed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney(R)–in his own backyard of New Hampshire–a second defeat in theRepublican primary where Romney was expected to make a strongshowing.

With so many history-making possibilities, the Americanelectorate seems more energized than it has in a long time. Thepossibility of the nation's first female or minority presidentbrought record numbers out in Iowa's Democratic Caucus andunusually high voter turn out in New Hampshire.

My natural draw to politics after having covered the Washingtonbeat for Credit Union Times over the last seven-plus years notwithstanding, the United States' first presidential election indecades without a seated incumbent has captured America'sattention. I believe credit unions can draw from the experiences ofthe earliest primaries.