Note: President Josiah Bartlett made a comment in a Second Year episode along the lines of: 'the complexities of this are staggering. There is no way 82% of the population can have a reasoned opinion on the subject."

I point this out after seeing a recent poll of likely voters by TIme Magazine, which has Bush ahead by eleven points: 52% to 41%. Yet a similar poll taken at the beginning of August showed Kerry ahead by six points. Almost gets me to think there should be mandatory testing of voters to evaluate their suitability to the task of electing Americas political representatives. Also, that the Conventions should be held on the same week, or certainly limited to within a restrained time frame with a maximal spread between the conventions and the general election.

Maybe the prohibition of alcohol sales on election day still points to a real problem, and in the age of electronic media saturation the electorate may need a reasonable separation period to avoid being swept up in unreasoned political emotions.