In the days following the first presidential debate of the general election, I had a lot of explaining to do.
I didn't watch it.
I didn't TiVo it.
I didn't even YouTube it.
The shock, interrogation and frustration on the part of my friends and colleagues revealed to me a serious confusion about our politics. It is the confusion of intellectual politics with mythical politics.
Let's not assume we have any grasp whatsoever on intellectual politics.
The media tell us a story about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright or a candidate's real estate holdings, and we instantly put aside our fundamental priorities. That is, if we aren't already busy juggling the stories from last week.
Candidates and campaigns scold the media and insist that we return to "the issues." The underlying assumption in their insistence is that there exists a universally obvious and concretely ordered set of issues.
The other assumption perpetuated by campaigns is that any given issue can be addressed absolutely by a single person in a single term, as if they existed in a vacuum rather than an intentionally decentralized political process.
Ask any Democrat elected to Congress in 2006 about how that has worked out for them.
When we believe ourselves to be taking an intellectual approach to politics, we're usually just playing with the toys handed to us.
We take it for granted that issues have any semblance of rhyme, reason or consequence. Buying into this myth, we bastardize any useful interpretation of our political behavior when we uphold the political debate as the intellectual bastion of our politics.
We can begin to right ourselves as soon as we interpret our reverence of debates as ritual born out of modern myth.
Debates, media and campaigns each craft a piece of a story.
This is the story of our politics. It is this shared narrative, our myth, which compels collective political action that is passionate yet civil. This is a good thing.
It becomes inappropriate and even dangerous when we can't see our political mythology for what it is. We feel rationally justified in the practice of our myths.
My friends whine at me about how this is a historic election - easily the most important of our lifetime. Politics is your study and your passion, so how can you skip the debates?
I know the set of issues. I know how the candidates interpret those issues. I have heard them speak dozens of times, in all types of settings, and I know who is getting my vote.
With the little free time I have, I'd rather catch up with schoolwork or play a game of Risk with a few friends. If I'm looking for some entertainment or a compelling story, I personally prefer "Law and Order" reruns.
Last Thursday night, on the other hand, I freely handed over to the epic battle between Biden and Palin.
I guess none of us are totally free from our myths.
Michael Belle is a political science graduate student.
