The Politics of November 2012

There are two campaign commercials running that tell you an awful lot about the superficial quality of the 2012 presidential campaign.

The first is a Mitt Romney ad, and yes I’m glossing over who is funding the ad in today’s age of human corporations. I’ll do the same for President Obama. Anyway, Romney’s ad doesn’t even mention the Republican candidate for our nation’s highest office. The entire dance card is filled with steps geared to the “Anybody But Obama” crowd. I’d imagine that right about now, the Right is feeling the same way the Left did while running John Kerry against George Bush. No one could be worse, right? The election was sealed for the Democrats.

In Obama’s ad — the better of the two in terms of effective rhetoric, which isn’t something I like to laud — there’s no question that the President is the man behind the ad. This, too, is a negative spot. It’s one that berates Romney for the seeming hypocrisy involved in putting his record as an American job creator in the spotlight while doing everything in his power to choose cheaper global options over more expensive endeavors in America.

There’s no question that this campaign is going to be about verbal missteps and blowhard talking points. This may work better for the candidates, but not for the voting public. Politics is rarely more than theater and apparently the physical evolution of man is quicker than its mental capacity for growth. Be ready for Anti-Obama ads verus Anti-Bain Capital ads.

It’s Anything But The Candidate season, and any election that makes you yearn for false braggadocio is sad, sad stuff.