Sam Balto, a volunteer with the Barack Obama campaign, is just one of the volunteers that have been all over campus in recent weeks urging students to get registered and vote.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few months, you know that Election Day 2008 is fast approaching and the 44th president of the United States will be chosen.  Over a year ago, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain began campaigning all over the country with aspirations of making it to the Oval Office.

However, if you are beginning to feel bothered by the constant bombardment of the attention given to the candidates by the media, you are not alone.  It is inescapable.  One cannot walk more than fifty feet around campus without seeing a poster or flyer, or watch television without seeing what seems like a hundred, mostly negative, campaign commercials about the candidates.  They were exciting a couple months ago, intriguing a few weeks ago, and annoying now.  The voters have seen all they can see, heard all they can hear, and watched all they watch.  The large majority of voters have known whom they were voting for for weeks, if not months, and the events of the last few days will not change that in any way.

With that said, I understand the strategies of the campaign battle.  The millions of dollars generously donated by supporters must be put to good use by a plethora of advertising and attention grabbing methods.  I can’t say I blame either candidate for smothering the public with friendly pictures, catchy sayings, and of course, the negative accusations against their opponent.  It just feels like the campaigning will never end and the monopoly of the media that the election currently has will continue to dominate every source of news in this country.  I can only tolerate that kind of attention on one subject for so long, no matter the importance of the issue.

I am just as interested in this election as the next person, an election that will undoubtedly affect my future in this country and our future in this world.  However, I have to draw the line when I begin waking up due to nightmares screaming, “I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.”  Whether you agree or disagree, and despite the fact that these last few weeks have been some of the most crucial times of this era, I cannot imagine anyone looking forward to more presidential campaigning.  In other words, wake me up on November 4th.

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