American President: Season 44

I’m sad to see the Olympics end, and frustrated that I will have to wait 4 more years until more international name-calling ensues. I guess there’s always the Winter Olympics, but other than Russia most of those countries are so darn nice and peaceful like Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands. At the same time I am overjoyed by the fact that I will not have to see Bob “I look like a Camel” Costas on TV for four hours a night. Instead he’s been replaced by all the anchors reporting from the Democratic National Convention. Too bad the DNC is only aired for an hour a night on the main channels, and to get full coverage I’m forced to watch C-SPAN!

Unfortunately with less than 2 months before the Election my free time has been eaten up by all the comings and goings of politicians and the like. I guess I admit to being a junkie, but who knows if my psyche can handle much more of the commentary I heard last night.

Here’s a brief list of things I’ve heard commentators say that only make the American voter sound dumb:

1. Americans vote for candidates based on their character not on their policy. If that is really the case, (and maybe it is) why even bother with a campaign platform and the endless number of policy documents on the campaign sites? Instead the candidates should focus on selling themselves to the American public much like people on dating sites such as Match.com.
2. Biden was chosen as a running mate to prove that Barack Obama cares about national security. And if he had chosen someone else, does that mean he doesn’t care about national security?
3. Michelle Obama’s speech is looking to prove that Barack and her stories’ are typical American and not exotic. Last I checked Hawaii is one of the 50 states, so I don’t really know how being raised there is “exotic”. I almost feel like its more “exotic” to be raised on a farm in the middle of Idaho, considering there are less people with that experience than living in a tourist centered economy in a mid-size city.
4. Hillary Clinton supporters need to be validated otherwise they might not vote at all. Its too bad Hillary didn’t win, and understandable to be disappointed after such a long hard fight. At the same time I don’t think Nastia Liukin is swearing off Chinese food for the rest of her life because of what happened in the parallel bars, and they were tied for the Gold! Barack won fair and square. Hillary’s loss was improbable, but it happened, no more whining please!
5. The next President will be able to “fix” all of the problems that exist today. I understand it’s important to set lofty goals that are impossible to reach, but this goes above and beyond what is reality. First, Presidents do not make or break an economy. Yes, more could have been done about the mortgage subprime situation, but in the end prices rising out of control could not have been controlled by anyone. The Iraq situation will continue to linger on regardless of who is elected, because we’re not going to just cut and run no matter what. And, education needs a lot more help than any one individual can offer, with the majority of the decision making and change occurring at the district level.

So please commentators, in an effort to educate rather than placate the public, try and act like this is more than what this election has become: a decision as to who the American public would prefer to see on their TV for the next 4 years.