The above was a fantasy on the part of your columnist. Actually, it was easy to write — I just substituted Romney and Paul for Erik Peterson and Robert Wentzel, the new candidates for Huntington Beach City Council, and Obama for Devin Dwyer, the only incumbent in this year's race.
Election season has begun in Huntington Beach, and the next five months promise plenty of excitement. Election season in America, meanwhile, has been plugging along since about three hours after Obama took office, and I've arrived at the mixed emotions I always have at this point in the cycle: misty-eyed gratitude for our democratic system, coupled with a desire for the whole maddening circus to end.
I know, I need to keep it in perspective. Last week, my colleague Mona Shadia wrote a piece about the first (presumably) fair elections in her native Egypt. However much we may tire of watching presidential hopefuls on the news, it's far preferable to tiring of Mubarak or the Brilliant Comrade. I do count my blessings.
The thing is, though, I usually make up my mind fairly quickly about how I'm going to cast my blessed democratic vote. My decision usually comes down to a few key policy issues; some bit of heroism in the candidate's past may help too. Give me a few weeks or months, and I can mark my ballot assuredly.
In short, if I knew exactly as much about the nominees as I do about Connie Boardman or Joe Carchio, I would consider myself a savvy voter. I don't need an extra three years of media saturation to help enforce my preference. Did anyone else feel a little blase on the day of Obama's swearing-in, namely because, with his face and voice dominating the news for so long, it felt like he had already been our president?
