Politics is TV's best right now

I skipped a high school basketball game the other night to stay home and watch television.

No, not "American Idol," I assure you. I have wasted time watching trash on TV before---"Big Brother 8" all of last summer, for example---but the strange people they acquire to appear on "American Idol," who apparently think they can sing, are more than I can stand. Talk about raw talent! (How do I know they're so awful? I listen to a sports talk radio show daily, and the host delights in playing tapes of the worst of "American Idol" from the night before.)

No, what kept me home from the Tanagers' game was politics. It's a topic I don't understand (example: I can't grasp why Fred Thompson from "Law and Order" thinks he should run for President). It's a topic I know little about (example: I cast my first-ever vote in a presidential election unbelievably for Richard Nixon instead of John F. Kennedy in 1960). Yet it's a topic that is totally fascinating right now.

I remember most of the presidential campaigns way back to Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson in the 1950s, but I can't recall any year with the delicious possibilities this year contains. There is no incumbent president in the running. Thankfully there is no incumbent vice president in the running either (Cheney wouldn't dare!). But there is a slew of viable, interesting, intriguing candidates, like 'em or not.

I paid little attention to the presidential campaigning in 2007, figuring it was still more than a year away from Election Day. But now that 2008 is here and the conventions and the election are in sight, MSNBC has replaced ESPN as my day-long television channel of choice. No, not right-wing, conservative Fox News Channel. No, not CNN because I can't stand Wolf Blitzer. MSNBC is my channel, partly because so many of you believe what Bill O'Reilly says about NBC News and partly because Keith Oldermann is terribly funny and Joe Scarborough, Chris Matthews of "Hardball," Tucker Carlson, Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw are commentators I enjoy. I don't agree with everything they say, to be sure, but I trust them, which is more than I could ever say about Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, for heaven's sake.

But back to the races! What's delicious is that there is no final candidate decided after the first few primaries. It's still anybody's ballgame in both parties. Huckabee wins one week, McCain wins the next, Romney wins the next, and we haven't even been to Florida yet where Mayor 9/11 Giuliani says he's going to win. Same with the Democrats---Obama wins one week, Clinton surprises the next, and Edwards hangs around.

What I hope happens is that the same pattern continues through the next couple of months. Wouldn't it be a kick if we went to the nominating conventions with something still in doubt? Talk about awesome television! Imagine sitting there watching the delegate totals mount for each candidate and not knowing who was going to win! That's the presidency of the United States at stake, not a football game or a tennis match.

I suspect that one candidate will emerge in each party, probably within the next month, and the fun will be gone. But the fact that the conventions are here in the Heartland this year---the Democrats in Denver, then the Republicans in St. Paul---add spice to the political calendar this year. I'd love to be there, but to get into the convention, it appears to me, you must be old, overweight, rich and willing to wear red, white and blue crepe paper hats and carry banners for a week. Never mind; I'll watch from home. And I'll probably skip baseball telecasts that week to do it!

So yes, I stayed home from a basketball game the other night to watch the Democratic candidates debate in Las Vegas, then stayed up late to watch the Michigan primary returns and hear the candidates speak and the commentators comment. More of the same lies just ahead---the Democratic primary in South Carolina this Saturday, the Florida primary next Tuesday, and then the Tuesday after that, "Tsunami Tuesday" when two dozen states have primaries or caucuses.

By the time Election Day arrives, you will assume which one will get my vote. My only regret is that it won't matter much. Since South Dakota's primary is so late, it is meaningless. Then in November, South Dakota' three electoral votes will go to the Republican, whoever it is. Spongebob Squarepants could be the Republican candidate for President and he would get this state's majority. But I already understand that. That doesn't lessen my fascination with the process, which is as interesting right now as it has ever been.

Add the Olympics and the baseball season, and it means 2008 is a great year to be alive and kicking.