Tuning Out the Presidential Campaign

Though I have no party affiliation, I come from a family with politics in the blood and I'm a bit of a political junkie.  To be honest, I think I find the maneuvering and strategy more interesting than the issues and candidates themselves.

This year I've gotten kind of lost in the news about the campaign, though.  I've found myself listening to the talking heads on cable news spewing their foolishness until the wee hours of the morning.  I've been checking polls at least daily--Gallup, Rasmussen, FOX, Politico, etc.  I've been paying attention to trends in battleground states ("Oo, look!  Some polls have Obama closing the gap in North Carolina, but he's still got a huge gap in rural areas.  Wow!  Romney's behind in several Republican strongholds but has a great shot and taking traditionally Democratic New Hampshire."  You get the idea.).  Maybe I'm caught up in the drama of it.  Maybe deep inside I think I should get a job as a campaign manager--I sure do a lot of Monday morning armchair quarterbacking.

Well, this week I quit cold turkey.  I shut off the idiot box--no more opinions on the campaign from Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarbrough, Ed Schultz, Greta VanSusteren, or any of the others.  They will have to earn their ratings from someone else.  No more electoral college maps on my computer or presidential tracking polls on my phone.  No more touchscreens on NBC with county-by-county tracking in battleground states.  No more YouTube videos of speech bloopers.

I'm going to bed at 9:30, reading a little bit, and going to sleep around 10pm.  I'm waking up earlier and getting a productive start to my day.

Guess what?  I'm in a much better mood.  I'm less sleepy.  I'm less prone to cynicism and snarky-ness.  I'm reading, praying, and working more.  I'm more efficient.

I fully intend to stay up and watch the results come in on election night.  I plan to vote.  The day afterwards, I plan to go back to work building a city made not with hands.  I will be equally joyful no matter the results.  I am a citizen of a Kingdom that will not pass away.

Anyone else want to join me on a presidential campaign media fast?