Thursday, October 30, 2008

Political Musings

The presidential election is less than 1 week away and I am refusing to turn on the television or listen to the radio. I shocked my children when I informed them that we were going to have a huge Guitar Hero contest on election night, so no one would be tempted to turn on the TV for election coverage. I can wait until morning to find out the results. An added bonus is that I won't have to listen to the news anchors providing "non-biased" coverage all night. (My blood pressure will be lower too!) The non-stop barrage of election ads reached saturation point many, many months ago. The Obama television programs pushed me beyond my desire to be informed.

The 2008 election has been going full-force for 2 years. Senator Obama has only been in office as a US Senator for 3 years. He's been actively campaigning for president for 2/3 of his term of office. If I lived in Illinois, I would be angry that he has spent more time and energy trying to be elected than he has serving his constituents. On the flip side, Senator McCain has been campaigning for the last few years, but he has also served the people who elected him as a Senator for a much longer time period than Senator Obama.

I realize that candidates need to have the opportunity to speak with the voting publc. Voters want to know the candidates' positions and platforms. Two year isn't necessary or productive. I would love to see the election season have a 1 year (or less) limit. Something that would provide enough time to get information out, but not so much that we are no longer interested in anything the candidates have to say.

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