by Ted Sherman

Created on: February 10, 2007   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

A rather stupid premise, but since Helium has unwisely approved the title, we can only try to make some sense out of it. From when this nation began, we've had very lively presidential campaigns, every one of them involving name-calling, mud-slinging, skeletons brought out of closets and every other dirty trick in the political game. Probably the worst, and not likely to be topped even by the 2008 campaign sleaze, was Lincoln's bid for the presidency and his re-election four years later. Political cartoons showed him as an ogre, an ape and a madman. Opponents made fun of his rural accent, lanky body and craggy face. Southern newspapers depicted him as the devil, evil African American witch doctor and mass murderer. Yet, somehow he won both elections, although his assassination prevented him from serving out his second term.

While too much TV content, especially the reality shows, has succeeded in dumbing down American intelligence, we can hope that responsible voters will rise above it when participating in the next presidential elections.

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