Move over, Sarah Palin!

The signs, the bumper stickers, the hyperbole and rhetoric....I love election season!

Well, at the local level it seems we have our own female/phenom candidate in-house. My daughter ran (successfully) as treasurer of her class. The returns came in yesterday, supporting the informal polling data she had collected in the hallways and classrooms. Although she has never been the mayor of a small town or a community organizer (she's a school organizer, perhaps?), she has prepared by surrounding herself with qualified support-staff (that would be me with my accounting degree, who can show her how to balance a checking account and budget).

We funded our own campaign, which came out to a total of about $12. That included five posterboards, two smelly black markers, and an array of Sharpies in striking colors. We labored meticulously, scouring the internet for catchy slogans like "Put your money where my math is!" and "FREE MONEY...(Now that I have your attention, vote for me for treasurer!)" We sketched, colored, and decorated each poster with love. Too bad that she never got to hang them up. Apparently, due to some campaign ugliness in years past, all campaign materials must be approved by "the man." (Two men, actually...and she didn't get her posters through all the channels of authority in a timely fashion).

She has also managed to avoid an uncomfortable vote. In the race for class secretary, she had a couple of candidates that she wanted to support so she effectively voted "present" in that contest, displaying no preference at all.

I probably shouldn't be posting this on the internet because it's definitely fodder for anyone who plans to challenge her in the future. Can you just hear it now: "She says she's a decisive candidate...but did you know that she didn't even vote for a secretary candidate in her own class elections? Does she really care about who is taking minutes at the meetings?"

Then, there's this gem: "She says she's efficient with money, but did you know about her wasteful campaign spending in the 2008 election? She spent $12 of her family's money on posters she didn't...even...use."

It all sounds so silly when you put it in the context of school elections, but it's a microcosm of what's going on at the national level right now. A small part of me wishes the election were held today so we could get back to watching the new season of "The Office" or some such. It's like I have a meth addiction and I'm secretly begging for someone to set up an intervention but in the meantime, I'm compelled to turn on the TV first thing in the morning to check the scandal meter for my "fix". It's a cycle of futility.

Someone call Dr. Phil.