for key swing voters, the election is about "who do you want to see on tv for the next 4 years"

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for most swing voters, this is really the key question, underneath it all.

they can't, or at least don't, sort through all the facts and issues. at least, if they did, they wouldn't be undecided at this stage.

the biggest impact on their lives, as far as they can tell, that the president has, is that they're on tv a lot. they'll be talking on tv and they'll be talked about on tv quite a lot over the next 4 or 8 years.

people ask themselves, what kind of stories and central characters do they want to see repeatedly on tv? the campaign is the pilot episode.

this is why negative campaigning works. it makes people think the next 4 years are going to be about complaining and scandals and muckraking and divisiveness. it doesn't matter that the other side is responsible for going dirty, they just don't want to see it on their tv.

we can't merely complain that the mclame/falin freak show will be bad for america. bad might be entertaining to watch. we have to make sure people understand that another republican presidency would be unpleasant to watch on tv. not entertaining.

the worst thing about democrats is that they aim for being responsible leaders. to these key voters, responsible means BORING tv for the next 4 years. boring is a killer in the entertainment biz. obama's biggest strength is that he makes responsible look captivating.

let's hope america agrees.