So this is what it comes down to, I suppose. After eight years of leadership (although that term decidedly assumed a loose definition sometime around 2004), the election polls are close enough to suggest not too many people learned their lessons throughout George W. Bush’s administration. If the presidential and vice-presidential debates prove anything, it’s that we so severely have devolved into a marketing-campaign atmosphere that treats truths and inconveniences when they threaten the appeal of our preferred candidates. It’s almost funny.

(Written by Natalie Martin)