Have you ever met a president?&uot; The question was offered in the middle of the quiet newsroom and sparked yet another conversation on the topic of the day Tuesday — the presidential race.

As it turns out, only one editorial staff member actually met a sitting president — or at least shook his hand.

Another wrote to George Bush, sharing her then teenage opinion that his choice of Dan Quayle as a vice-presidential running mate was, well, let’s say a bit lacking.

&uot;I got a letter back from Bush’s campaign with a copy of Quayle’s resume as justification of his qualifications,&uot; she said with a laugh, adding that her opinion really hasn’t changed since then.

And then, of course, there was my infamous &uot;killer bee&uot; letter. In the late 1970s, I penned a letter to then President Jimmy Carter urging him to do something about those killer bees which were headed to America. We were doomed, I wrote, and he needed to do something.

I actually received a reply signed, if not by President Carter himself, by a secretary with an talent for signing the president’s name … with flair. He told me not to worry — the U.S. Department of Agriculture would take care of those killer bees.

I suspect I still have that letter somewhere in a box, and it still comes up in conversation every four years or so … when talk turns to presidents.

I know at the time the significance of the president’s reply was lost on my youth. And, most certainly, when I wrote that letter more than 20 years ago I never dreamed I’d be writing about the president one day.

But as an adult, the importance of the office of president of the United States takes on a new meaning and, after covering Tuesday’s election as a journalist, the drama of electing that president takes on a heightened drama.

And, as I write this column, it’s 10 p.m. We’re still hours away from knowing who will be elected president.

The tone of the newsroom has changed from the casual conversation of the earlier evening to nervous anticipation. I suspect an edgy tension will build as the 1 a.m. deadline looms … without a hint of who might be elected president, thanks to flip-flopping &uot;projections&uot; and Florida — the state currently &uot;too-close-to-call.&uot;

Covering an election — particularly a national election — is never easy for a journalist at a small daily newspaper. We watch the television — as do the rest of you — and we depend largely on our partners with the Associated&160;Press to give us the pertinent national, state and regional news we expect to give our readers. We’ll be at work later than most of our readers — at least to 1:30 a.m. or so — and start again early this morning covering the news. I’m not touting our efforts, simply explaining.

Because as I watch some of our newest staff members man the phones and track down election results,&160;I see the drive that comes, perhaps subconsciously, from knowing that they are a part of history.

For all the hard work — all the risks associated with putting your writing and efforts out there for thousands of people to read each day — journalists have an enviable window into history. The work we do each day at a minimum records history. At our best, we write it.

And Tuesday’s presidential election is no exception.

Most of us have never experienced a true down-to-the-wire presidential race — although many of us thought we’d seen it all after Mississippi’s gubernatorial race.

Now, we’ve been a part of making history. And, for the record, I suspect this will make a much better story one day than the infamous &uot;killer bees&uot; correspondence …

Stacy Graning is editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 445-3539 or via e-mail at stacy.graning@natchezdemocrat.com