I love Barack. I hate Hillary. Who is Huckabee?

After finishing up a semester of Government, I can confidently say that I have a good grasp of our governmental system. I am also well versed in very useful factual tidbits, like the name of the House Minority Whip. I know that in a perfect world, all of the United States of America would vote for presidential candidates based on their platforms and their vision for the future. But why is it that I find myself being sucked into a twisted Presidential Pageant like the rest of America? It is as if all Americans are mesmerized by each candidate's smile and charisma. I bet that if all political news were muted, the votes would turn out exactly the same because nobody's platforms seem to be important in this election.

Let me explain. In a poll taken after President Bush was elected into office for his second term, it was shown in a USA Today poll that 57 percent of undecided voters were swayed in his direction (rather than Kerry's) because he seemed like a fun guy to meet for a drink. I can see that George (we are on a first-name basis) could be fun to hang out with. He has a funny laugh, a funny accent. As long as I kept him away from the peanuts, I can see that being an enjoyable outing. However, I have yet to applaud or respect any of his politics within the past eight years. And while I would be happy to hear about his Texan roots or Scottish Terrier, Barney, I couldn't stand to think of how he refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol to save our earth, sent more troops to Iraq to fight a never-ending war or how he vetoed another bill against gay marriage. He might be a great person, but not such a great president.

In this current race for the presidency, I was watching the Democratic Debate and I found myself focusing solely on the way the candidates said things, not the actual content of what they were saying. Barack was intense and didn't even smile. Edwards treated the debate as if it were a chat at Starbucks with his besties. And if looks could kill, Hillary's would have knocked out anyone in her path of vision. As much as I tried to focus on their plans to remove troops from Iraq, or their ideas for revamping the recessing economy, I couldn't. Charlie Gibson would have been just as well off asking Barack and Edwards to 'describe a perfect date.' And chances are Hillary would have received the same, if not more, support had she paraded down the aisles in an evening gown spewing out words of her lifelong goal: world peace. Similar to the Miss USA Pageants, I see fake emotions from the candidates. The worst part is, we fall for it. Not just 'we' as teenagers, and not 'we' as the intelligence-lacking voting group, but 'we' as normal, typical Americans. I know this because if you ask the average person why they like a specific they do not have an immense amount of support to back it up. The spot I have for Hillary deep, deep inside my heart turned a little bit softer when she cried on TV. I was sitting with my TiVo remote in hand, rewinding her speech, actually feeling sorry that I didn't like her more – just because she was whimpering! As a side-note, that pity disappeared when she won Calif.

I am not saying that I will vote in November based on who has the best smile or who seems like the 'coolest' person to hang out with for a day. I do keep up with the presidential race, and have the basic platforms memorized. I consider myself a savvy girl in the world of politics, and as long as 'we' as a nation can forget about the mudslinging, appearances and charisma of the candidates, we can get someone in office who really does love America and wants to make it a better place for us all. If we try to use our eyes less, and our ears more over the next 10 months it is very possible to find a president who can run this country and isn't just good at smiling and kissing babies. I would definitely be willing to cancel any presidential lunch plans for that.