Am I the only one who feels like the presidential campaign has been going on forever? I’m ready for it to be over. I’ve had quite enough of the mud-slinging, issue evasion and double talk. My contempt knows no party lines. Not that it would matter, as both seem to have melded together any way.

No, I’m officially sick of all politicians. And herein lies my dilemma. If I’m frustrated with all of my options, who am I going to vote for?

Both candidates, in my opinion, are trying to sell themselves to the undecided voter. Unfortunately, the sales pitch has been going on so long that I’ve forgotten what the product is. But I’m not alone. Even the candidates themselves, who are constantly contradicting themselves, don’t seem clear on this anymore. While touting expensive “rescue” plans, they swear that they’ll cut taxes and slash spending. It doesn’t add up.

Is this a reflection on their opinion of our intelligence? Or are they so used to saying what they think their audience wants to hear, that they no longer pay attention to the content of their latest spiel?

And while everyone has been focused on first the primaries and now the general election campaigns, the state of the economy was largely ignored. Until it crashed and burned.

We can hardly claim to be blindsided. We had plenty of warning signs heralding doom and gloom on the economic front. Prices at the pump started their meteoric rise at least three years ago and pundits were screaming then that it would lead to recession. The rash of foreclosures that first indicated the impending housing crisis occurred more than a year ago. It had heavy coverage on international news networks, yet American eyes appeared to be elsewhere.

Are the presidential candidates changing their message to reflect the current state of the economy? Only slightly. They’d rather take pot shots at one another.