Political junkie Tommy Greenough was exhausted. So he dropped his Barack Obama sign flat on the sidewalk and let his body crumple on it, arms outstretched, face on the pavement.

Nobody minded. It was dark, the polls were closing and the last of the 2,734 voters who cast ballots in Ward 5 at Keene High School Tuesday easily walked around him.

Besides, Tommy represents the weariness and euphoria much of America feels today, even if he’s only 7. It’s New Year’s Day in American politics, a holiday that transcends generations, yet it’s the youth of America who will be most affected by the groundswell of change that’s shaken not only the U.S., but the world.

“A New World Dawns,” screams today’s headline in England’s Daily Express, which proclaims itself to be the world’s greatest newspaper. A new generation takes over.

It was teenage mayhem throughout Cheshire County Tuesday, and not the kind that brings out the police. The streets were full of teenagers, high school and college students, carrying signs and carrying on. This was their election, their future, and, darn it, they wanted to be heard.

Tommy Greenough was accompanied by his three brothers and father, David, who came over from Jaffrey to work for the Democrats. The two oldest, Randy, 16, and Jason, 13, began campaigning in the pre-dawn darkness. The youngest, Riley, was asleep in the car. Give him a break, he’s only 5 weeks old.

“I’m not a rich guy and the Democrats, to me, support the middle class,” David Greenough said of his family’s activism.

Similar scenes played out all across the Monadnock Region. The energy of young activists infused the day with a festive atmosphere. They waved wildly at passing cars, campaigned from their hearts.

From the green-clad Power Vote group that marched from Keene State College through downtown, to the high school students who congregated around their school on Arch Street, the exuberance of youth reigned.

“(President) Bush ... has made a mess of things, and it’s our future that’s in their hands,” Keene High sophomore Jason Wheatley said. “Even though we’re not old enough to vote, we should be taking active roles.”

Teen Randy Greenough got into politics almost by accident. He was at the 2007 Keene Pumpkin Festival when a Hillary Clinton volunteer tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he’d like to help out. Soon, he was hooked on politics. He slid over to Obama after the primary season and pitched in on the Jeanne Shaheen Senate campaign as well.

“This election is so important. I really feel like we’re going in the wrong direction,” said Randy, echoing the comments of so many of his elders.

Indeed, not far from Randy’s sidewalk-prone 7-year-old brother sat state Rep. Tim Robertson, D-Keene, 76, who retained his House seat Tuesday.

Robertson and Randy Greenough may be 60 years apart in age, but they spoke in unison.

“This is one of the most important elections we’ve had in a long time,” Robertson said. “I feel my country has been heading in the wrong direction.”

The short Arch Street corridor connecting Wards 4 and 5 was full of high school students most of the day. Democratic supporters were in the clear majority, but the Republicans in the mix still tried to shout them down. The good-natured rowdiness would simmer down, then revive when one of the groups renewed its chants and shook its signs.

Junior Ashley McCormick and senior Daniel Davis, members of Keene High School’s Young Conservative Voices club, said they welcome all political points of view in their 3-year-old group. They decried the nasty tone of this election campaign.

“We just felt (conservatives) didn’t have much representation at the high school and we wanted a place where we could talk,” McCormick said. “We’re open to everyone. We also have four or five liberals who are in our group and it really makes for good dialogue, good debates.”

Watching Obama’s moving acceptance speech early this morning, you wonder if we’ve turned a political corner, turned the clock back to Camelot. Our parents and grandparents regale us with stories of how John F. Kennedy electrified and united the country almost 50 years ago, if only for a brief period.

If history is to repeat itself behind Obama, the younger generation will lead the way. Our turn’s over. We’ve been beaten up by Vietnam, divided by Iraq, polarized by partisan politics.

Ben Johnson of New Haven, Conn., spent his first day ever in Keene Tuesday keeping an eye out for improprieties in Ward 5 for the John McCain campaign. His group of seven left Connecticut at 4 a.m. for duty in the battleground state.

“Nothing happened,” Johnson said after his 11-hour watch.

“But it was still fun to be here. There’s something civic-minded about people coming together and saying hi to each other. We need more of this.”

Steve Gilbert is a staff writer for The Sentinel.

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