Does the 2012 Presidential Race Actually Matter?

Impact

Political parties always find it useful to exaggerate differences between their candidates for government office. It’s a useful campaign strategy that motivates people to attend rallies, write checks, and pull the lever enthusiastically on Election Day. Regardless of policy differences, voters are told often that candidates have “two competing visions” for the country.

But in a presidential race likely to be fought between a sitting president who promised and failed to cut the growing federal deficit in half by the end of his first term and a businessman challenger whose policies may simply allow him to manage the country’s decline, some wonder whether the $6 billion+ to be spent on the coming contest is worth it.

The merits of the likely candidates for president aside, would all the money, time, and inevitable heartbreak generated by the 2012 presidential election be more productively spent elsewhere?

Photo Credit: Denise Cross