By Aaron Joseph. We are nearly a month into the presidential election season with no clear indication of where we stand. In the instant message world we live in, this is exasperating, to say the least. But it is the truth. I for one will refrain from predictions, though my personal bias is for the refreshing Rick Santorum. Let Paul fade away in rigid selfishness, and the Romney-Gingrich feud disenchant all of their potential supporters. Oh, for the fulfillment of E-dreams!

Now for a point of interest: the difference between political party emblems may make all the difference during this primary season. The Democrat’s being the Donkey, and the Republican’s, the elephant. It’s just that for some reason, the elephant is the better show animal! Read on-

Historically, being a month into a presidential primary season without any clear indication of just who might be a party’s nominee is as common as pizza on a Saturday night. Just four short years ago, the Democratic ticket was jammed with who knows who, with Hillary and Barack “Change” Obama, the rock star attention grabbers. It wasn’t until June 7th, 2008, that Hillary, without leaving the campaign opted to endorse the future president saying, “… Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him [Barack] on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him.” A historical point is: Hillary actually had more people vote for her during the primaries, than for Obama.

Going even further back into the Republican Primary history, President Reagan who was elected in November 1980 by a huge landslide election victory over incumbent President Jimmy Carter faced an initial field of eight other candidates at the beginning of the primary season. Reagan faced a tremendous onslaught from, and was beaten by George H.W. Bush in three of the first four primaries of 1980, including the first two primaries in Iowa and Puerto Rico. Bush beat Reagan in Iowa on January 21st, Puerto Rico on February 17th, (where Bush received 60% percent of the vote and Reagan received 0% !!!) and by 2. percentage points in Massachusetts on March 4th.

On that date March 4th, 1980, there was another Republican state primary as well, Vermont, where Reagan did win the vote decisively by 8. points. While Bush periodically did win some primaries after March 4th, the Republican Party had by then taken to Reagan, and he smoothly sailed towards the nomination. The last Republican Primary Bush won in 1980 was in Michigan on May 20th, and Bush won that decisively by over 25% of the vote. Still, the campaign remained Reagan’s. George H.W. Bush went on to be Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President for 8 years.

I think however, that our intense reaction and interests in the political field is only, and all, media driven. The high drama of each primary debate, where after two hours of candidates verbally abusing one another, saying things, true or otherwise for reaction, is a media production which ensnares, perhaps, a great one-liner for a sound byte, and the whole show is as good if not better than any soap-opera. We the people stay mesmerized, and the networks all discuss it in terms of ratings. We are inclined by natural curiosity to hear, and perhaps even see, that one great exchange of wits and quips between those men who vie to be our next president, and lower themselves to the depths of depravity and despicable behavior to do so. And yet we stay tuned for the next round. So yes, we the people are caught up in the seemingly and supposedly clean sport of the political season and sensation. This sound wave written word web has us well ensnared.

Of course paying attention to the bashing of another, listening to petty gossip, or rumors of a ruined marriage, especially by a disenfranchised former wife, is far less than righteous, and surely lowers our own natural instincts for proper Godly behavior. But hopefully we can compartmentalize all this as political theater only.

But I firmly do believe that the awareness of the media drive craze of portraying only according to that particular media networks standards, is becoming a conscious realization in the minds of the average American. Witnessing so much instant information, all the time, has begun to finally inoculate the haziness of simply ingesting and unthinkingly comprehending all that the media spews forth, without deliberation. American’s are waking up to the fact that the media is no longer in control or a final binding opinion on how we think, and that the media is simply ‘another loud voice in the room’ which can be shut out. However an agonizing slow awakening this may be.

So this that Mr. Gingrich has won the South Carolina primary, or that Mr. Santorum was finally declared the winner in Iowa, is not all that important, strange yes, great political theater, absolutely, but not that important. It has happened in the past without much fanfare, and will surely happen again. The next few weeks of primaries, if not months, may very well see a seesaw of winners and favorites, and wonderful network productions of how we should all think and understand. The media will lend its own spin on the frenzy of the primary season, as they portray the ferociousness of the various participants, yet ultimately it is up to us, the voters, to see through the headlines, and select the best candidate that we can detect beyond the printed word or broadcast sound byte.

This after the delightful circus called South Carolina. Florida: One week. I wonder who the elephant in the room, or debate, will be this time.