As of this coming Tuesday, October 15th, We the People will be three weeks away from deciding who will occupy the White House for the next four years. What’s that I hear? Election Day can’t come soon enough? Really? Surely you’re enjoying listening to the total evisceration of candidates by both campaigns, political parties, and tangential groups that produce their own heartfelt messages of support or slander.

I am once again struck by the fact that most broadcast and print messages we see, hear, and read feature a laundry list of what’s wrong with the opposition. Time was when a candidate running for office wanted to give voters a reason to vote FOR them instead of simply AGAINST the other guy. Is it possible that no one really has any positive or ground-breaking ideas to put forth to the electorate? It seems not, since we’re left with a barrage of “He’s a bum, She’s a bum” communications that collectively point out that apparently no one running is fit to hold the highest office in the land.

Residents of Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and other battleground states can attest to the fact that virtually every current TV and radio program is being primarily sponsored by either the Trump or Harris campaign or their respective surrogates. No program is immune. In Georgia alone, it’s been reported that the Harris folks are spending $35 million on just TV ads, and Trump’s people have booked over $20 million. That’s a whole lot of degradation and disgust to foist on the voters.

By now, given the great divide in the country, it’s probably fair to say that the vast majority of the electorate has made up its mind as to where its “X” will go on Election Day. If you figure there are maybe 7 million registered voters just in Georgia, and let’s say 6.75 million are already committed to one presidential candidate or another, that leaves 225,000 undecided folks. With combined spending of over $55 million by the presidential campaigns, you’re looking at some healthy expenditures per voter (as opposed to, say, helping out a hurricane victim or two).

Have you thought about how nice it would be to escape all the electioneering? Maybe we should take a page from Russia’s handbook. It seems that if you’ve committed a crime over in the Motherland but are willing to join the army, presto, you now have immunity from prosecution. Of course, you have to report to the front line in Ukraine, but you’re not going to the Gulag.

Now, I’m not suggesting all fed-up voters join the U.S. Army. Most of America would probably have a difficult time passing the physical test anyhow. But surely technology exists that would allow you to skip the political commercials in exchange for a donation to a worthy cause. Wouldn’t you pony up a couple hundred bucks to help those hurricane victims or to cure cancer if it meant you could watch Wheel of Fortune in peace for the next few weeks, or 30 seconds of penguins waddling on the ice in Antarctica or fields of swaying sunflower plants instead of the current haranguing and harassing bombardment of our senses?

You know, soon, if it hasn’t happened already, every voter in every state will have to contend with not only presidential ads, but also those of candidates running for either governor, senator, congressperson, and state and local level positions. The U.S. Postal Service will fill our mailboxes with slick presentations that will normally feature proud accomplishments of the preferred candidate on one side while alluding to the pact made with the Devil himself by the opposition on the flip side.

A friend of mine just this week asked me if I even recognize the Republican and Democratic Parties anymore. I had to admit that I didn’t. She asked me how this had even happened, and I could only opine that it seemed as if in the last several years the crazy wings of both parties now feature the tails wagging the dogs.

My dad was fond of saying that no matter what happened in an election, our Republic would survive. Given the fact that fully half the country is going to be more than just hopping mad no matter the outcome, would his assessment still hold true?

However, that’s no excuse to not exercise our Constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote. If you need a reminder of how sacred that right is and how much it cost to obtain it, just Google Arlington National Cemetery, the Normandy American Cemetery, or the Florence (Italy) American Cemetery, among others. Those who rest there bear silent witness to what too many of us take for granted. Even if you have to hold your nose while you do it, get out there and VOTE!

©MMXXIV. William J. Lewis, III – Creative Writer