From the desk

You can try to ignore it as much as possible, but the truth is, you cannot escape politics the year of a presidential election.

Campaigning starts roughly a year before the election, quickly followed by conferences to elect the Republican and Democratic candidates. At this point, one candidate will undoubtedly say something he or she regrets, and the other candidate will run with it for the rest of the election process.

Next on the docket, the media will bombard you with images of the two presidential nominees hashing it out on live television, also known as the presidential debates, to which we are quickly drawing closer.

As the Oct. 3 debate approaches, I find myself with one question. At this point in the game, do these public confrontations even make a difference?

Certainly, it will be entertaining to watch two grown men argue about domestic policy, but how many people actually watching the debates have yet to make up their minds about who they are voting for?

I suppose some catastrophic derogatory statement could slip from President Barack Obama’s lips to cause people to completely change their minds about him. Or, Mitt Romney could accidentally trip up the stage and land in the bosom of the first lady, offending millions. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, so very little is actually accomplished by debating at this point.

I do appreciate the promises that both men will make to the public. Obama has guaranteed change, hope and a stronger middle class for the past four years, and Romney has affirmed that a better economy will result in his leadership.

Currently in his campaign advertisements, Obama says that change takes time. Romney’s ads are no different, telling us that he will do all that he can in four years to get America back on the right track.

Gentlemen, thank you for your words, but let us see some action.

I would much rather watch a riveting documentary about how both candidates made a difference in various communities and how their current policies serve as a catalyst for change than I would like to watch Obama and Romney argue over what they plan on doing.

Do not get me wrong, as a journalist I love it when the presidential candidates speak. I am given the opportunity to quote from them directly, passing along the knowledge of their success, slip-ups and silly, embarrassing gestures to the general public.

But as the average American voter, I have already made up my mind on whose name I will put my check mark next to on Nov. 6. Unless these debates reveal that one of the candidates is suddenly the anti-Christ, I do not think my mind will change.

Maybe I have a very basic understanding about politics. But then again, am I not the common person?

So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy the bloodbath that is about to ensue over the presidential debates.