Do you smell the desperation? The polls show the race between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama has narrowed so tightly there is suddenly talk of a 269-269 tie in the Electoral College.
With 270 needed to win, that means the GOP-dominated House could decide the election. That would definitely outdo the 2000 election, when George W. Bush lost the popular vote but won the election by the Supreme Court voting 5-4 along partisan lines. Not the best scenario for democracy.
The problem, of course, is not really with the candidates. The problem is us. We are so divided that there is no majority party and little likelihood there will be.
We saw in the town-hall debate that Romney and Obama can’t stand each other. It was jarring to see Romney talk over the president in a shocking lack of politeness. It was also disconcerting to see Obama’s eye-rolling disdain for his opponent. That debate was a mirror for us all. Most of us can’t talk civilly about our political differences.