give me the strength to make it through another election year

Another presidential election year is upon us.  Oh gods above, below, and in all directions please help us.  Time to be inundated with political commercials about nothing but how bad the other candidates are, news hours, internet space, and plenty of ink devoted to each and every candidate, letting us know what they said, how they flubbed, what they ate for dinner, and what color undershirt they prefer, but not telling us where they really stand on any issue.  The spin, the soundbites, the mud-slinging, the Vaseline-coated smiles...

Oh, I don't think I can do it again.

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Last night, I received eight - EIGHT -  "Breaking News" updates in my email about the Iowa Caucuses.  They were coming in "With 50% of the votes in..." followed a little while later with, "With 67% of the votes in..." etc.  What?  Couldn't they just tell me who won when it was all over with? 

Today I had three "Breaking News" updates about Bachmann...First one at 9:26am
"Source close to Michele Bachmann campaign: No 'viable way forward' after sixth-place finish in Iowa."
The second at 9:42am
"Rep. Michele Bachmann will announce Wednesday she's suspending her GOP campaign for president, a source tells CNN."
The third at 10:36am
"Michele Bachmann announced today she is dropping out of the presidential race, saying 'I have decided to stand aside.'"

It was then that I decided once and for all that CNN and I have very differing views on what Breaking News really is, and I unsubscribed.

Front runners are determined a year before the election even takes place?  Debates become a show of who can throw out the right soundbites as opposed to giving straight answers?  How is anyone supposed to make informed decisions in this overly-packaged swamp of "coverage?"

In the perfect election year in my head, the candidates would give you the information you want.  They would give interviews, only being asked questions about policy and where they stand on issues, they would only be allowed to answer the question as asked and not mention where their political rivals stand.  Same goes with public debates.  The only news coverage given to the candidates would be these interviews, debates, and election results (when the votes have all been counted).  There would be no Super PACs, no "I'm so-and-so and I endorse this message," no phone calls during dinner.  Simple yard signs, bumper stickers and the like would be it.  We, the voters, would have the information we need to make intelligent decisions based on our own opinions - and we wouldn't have to sift through all the waste to get to it. 

Oh that sounds so refreshing.

Unfortunately it's my little dreamworld and it's nowhere near reality.  I guess I'll be fast-forwarding through every commercial, rolling my eyes at the internet headlines, and trying desperately to find the information I need to make a sound decision.  And I'll stay well-stocked on whiskey.