How about them debates?

I haven't seen any of the debates yet myself. Overall I feel it is just not worth my time to sit and listen to a slew of aspiring presidents rattle off their best talking points in hopes of making a good impression on the gullible electorate, when I don't know yet who the real candidates will be, when I have little say in who actually will end up being nominated late this summer (I voted Ron Paul in the primary), and when only one candidate is likely to be nominated for each of the two leading parties.

Wouldn't we all have a grand time if each of the two divided major parties ended up nominating two candidates--Ron Paul and John McCain for the Republican ticket, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic ticket. Now that would make for some kind of race! I know it sounds crazy, but split tickets are not unprecedented in US history (happened once or twice last century). I wouldn't rule such an unlikely occurrence out in this unpredictable election year.

Once the candidates are nominated, I watch the official debates with great relish. The candidates then know that one of them will be our country's next president, so they get down to brass tax and I listen closely. Not that I trust everything they say, mind you. I do critical thinking as I listen. Inaccuracy, superficiality and lies are all too common but often a grain of truth is hidden inside them.