The Endless Campaign

They're still playing musical chairs with the primary dates, with every state trying to get a jump on everyone else. The way things stand now, there's a good chance the candidates for president will be chosen by the first week in February, which means a full-nine month campaign. Imagine the cost. Imagine the mud that will be slung. Imagine the crushing tedium and disinterest that's sure to settle in somewhere around mid-May. The irony is that the July to November campaign was once considered long, but the length was justified by the fact there was no television, and the candidates had to crisscross the country in trains, getting exposure to people from a rear platform on the last car. The more ways the candidates now have to assault us with the cliches and bromides that have little to do with reality and everything to do with ad execs' notions about what "sells," the longer the thing gets dragged out. Is nobody in charge that can save the hopeless parody that's all that's left of this thing called democracy?