Who’s on first? Presidential nomination battle a bit too much to take

The worst part about picking a new president is enduring all the political posturing and bad-mouthing of the old one.

It seems very rare these days that any president leaves office without being castigated for a laundry list of wrongs. In many cases, simply for politics sake.

The same is true in the nomination process. More dirt is thrown around in today’s “positive” campaigns than in many elections past.

So, potential voters, rather than getting the chance to think about who would be the best pick for the job, are spending time instead flipping channels to get away from the drone of presidential politicking.

And that is exactly what is happening this year in the Democratic race.

It is just getting tiresome listening to the constant banter and continued pundit analysis of if and when Hillary Clinton should call it quits. Even the primaries themselves are anti-climactic. It really seems like it is time to move on to a new subject.

It is a wonder if anyone is even listening anymore.

What is really scary is that there are still a few more months before this nation decides on a new commander in chief. Fall seems like an awfully long time from now although it is likely to go by like a lightning bolt.

And by that time, we are likely to be so sick of politics, name-calling and candidate speeches that we are not likely to care for whom we vote. And as if that isn’t scary enough, we will also have to pick a governor this year.

There has to be a better way. Perhaps campaigns ought to have term limits, too — or at very least, word limits.

Published in Editorials on May 28, 2008 10:43 AM