I know, I know. I keep insisting that I’m not a political person, and then I keep talking about the election. But only because it keeps invading my television screen day in and day out; you just can’t avoid it, even when you wish you could.
Take last night, for instance. It’s bad enough that the VP debate kept me from seeing Grey’s Anatomy, Elementary, and Person of Interest. But, I was at school, so I didn’t even get to see most of the debate live. I have recorded it, but, honestly, after 24 hours of analysis, reporting, scorekeeping, Facebook posting, and just all around griping about who did what to whom, I’m not sure I can bring myself to sit through it at this point.
Somehow, I think we’ve lost sight of what should be important in our political processes, and—much as I hate to say it—I think my beloved television is a large part of why. It’s no longer enough to let the candidates sink or swim on their merits (if that’s the right word), but now we have to talk about their attitude, how they came across to the camera, their common courtesy, and—the one I will never understand—whether or not someone in Iowa thought they were nice. Honestly, no disrespect to Iowans, but their opinions on the basic decency of a particular candidate is pretty low on my priority list.
Of course the presidential election is important; it’s going to determine to a very great extent how we live for at least the next four years, maybe forever. And of course we need television coverage of the election, and I do believe debates should be televised. Maybe they even need a little bit of a breakdown analysis immediately afterward. Maybe. I think if someone sat and watched the thing for an hour and a half, they should know what was said, but it might still provide some benefit. But after that? Oh my gosh, just let it go, already.
