We're down to two.
It always comes down to two.
Oh, we flirt with a couple other choices, but in the end it's really only two that have any real chance of winning.
Taylor. McPhee.
Kerry. Bush.
Did you really think Kevin Covais had a chance? Nader?
Getting the populous off their collective arses and into the voting booth is what America and ABC are all about. Then again, some would choose the Electoral College.
Not meant as a snide popular vote vs electoral college argument, I'm more speaking to the issue of how you get your side to win. Something Democrats might want to consider trying.
In politics, the voter gets to make his or her decision based on a whole bunch of spin.
On American Idol, it's based on a semblance of ability.
That's not to say that the most talented singers always win on Idol. Then again, William Hung never made it to the finals. George W. Bush did.
What I am suggesting is that if Democrats want to get elected they might want to consider get-out-the-vote efforts that will get Katherine or Taylor elected.
Democrats just don't know how to exercise their rights. They do a wonderful job with voter registration but they treat their registration like membership to a gym. Once they join, that's the last time you'll see them at Bally's. Simply, there's far more registered Democrats than there are registered Republicans. It's acting on that registration that seems to be the Dem's problem.
Here's where we borrow from America's hottest two day a week event. On Idol voting days, contestant campaign workers arrange voting parties. The party goers show up at the designated location and amongst friends, food and cocktails, sit for hours dialing their favorite's 866 number over and over until their fingers are joyously bloodied.
Obviously, short of living in Chicago, you wouldn't be able to vote more than once in a political election, but if you can get the voters to the polls, at least you're getting them involved in the process they signed up for.
I'm advocating that on political voting Tuesdays in November, campaign workers create celebrations, not after the polls close, but while they're still open. Maybe that'll give the Dems a reason to party when the polls do close.
This isn't to say that you need to get the voter drunk to get the right person in office, but it might be better than getting drunk afterwards when you realize that your dereliction of duty caused (place your worst case scenario in the last two presidential elections here) to get elected.
To date, it doesn't seem that registered Democratic voters have yet to grasp the concept that democracy works much better if you actually participate or so says the ever deepening pockets of Simon Cowell. Perhaps registering for the party and then actually having a party might be enough of an incentive to drive a bit of interest into selecting the best people to do the job in November.
All we have to do is deck out a bunch of mass transportation party vehicles with a nice champagne brunch and drive the folks to the polls. It could actually make the constitutional process fun and we might be able to put those abandoned New Orleans busses to work at the same time.
It's just an idea but with the Republicans just about handing the election over to anyone who wants it, it wouldn't hurt to do everything we can to assure we don't drop it.
Democracy awaits but it'll have to wait one more week. I have to get my McPhee Rocks hors d'voures ready for Tuesday night.
Steve Young is author of "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful." and can be read every Sunday in the LA Daily News opinon page...right next to Bill O'Reilly.