The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

Voters Need To Get Real

As Melinda laments, people don't seem to care so much about experienced or informed in their candidates. Many who would consider refueling in Ireland a visit to Europe also believe Gov. Palin has sufficient international policy knowledge to be half the presidential ticket. That the untraveled VP nominee might soon need to rebuke both Putin and Saakashvili or stare down whomever inherits Kim Jong Il's nuclear stock pile evidentially has no more significance to many voters than if those responsibilities were challenges on Celebrity Apprentice. As long as the winner is smarter than a 5th-grader, Americans seem willing to be satisfied with the result. The American Idolization of democracy has apparently taken hold. But perhaps the distortions and tricky framing of the GOP campaign that lately resemble creative editing of reality TV writing are even more Machiavellian than they seem. I wonder if Karl Rove is secretly advising McCain to go "too far" in order to force Obama to go negative. (See, he can be as callow and politically manipulative as everyone else!) If so, personally, I'd like to see a daisy ad scare the voters back into reality.