my wife and i do serious "window shopping" about all the candidates that will be on our ballet. we voted awhile back for some of the minor offices locally, and we compared notes on each of the candidates so we could make a very informed decision.
while voting for the prez is a Big Deal, i think that local voting is somewhat of a bigger deal in that the closer to home, the more you'll feel the effects. whether it's for the school board or the state senate, the policies that those folk fight for will effect us just as much (if not more) than the presidential race.