The great thing about politics is that if you allow yourself to take a step back from the headlines for a second, you can feel how absurd the entire system can be.
Even though a lot of you may be completely burnt out on the 2008 election, we beg you not to divert your eyes - you're getting so close to the big day. If you need a little break, though, we suggest you take a look at some of the smaller Congressional races.
You should check out the local Florida District 6 contest between incumbent U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns and his challenger Tim Cunha (pronounced KOO-nya).
We know you crave big names and the national spotlight, but we promise that this race is just as entertaining - and comical - as the one for the White House.
The similarities between the two contests are a bit creepy.
Stearns, the Republican candidate, was originally elected to represent District 6 in 1988 and has served every term for nearly the past 20 years.
Hmmm. A Republican candidate who has been mired in the Beltway for too long?
The Democrat, Cunha, has only recently moved to Ocala, but he sure talks a big game. His Web site shakes its angry, digital fist at politics as usual while touting the slogan "Let's Change Washington … to work for the people!"
What's that, you say? A Democrat championing a campaign of change?
We told you the similarities were creepy, and it doesn't end there.
Stearns and Cunha have even traded some of the same blows as McCain and Obama.
Cunha insists that the incumbent Stearns has been in politics too long, saying that he pledged to serve only six terms as a congressman when he was elected back in 1988.
Terms in the House of Representatives are two years long, and Stearns has owned this district for almost 20 years. You can double-check our math because we aren't accountants, but according to those numbers we're pretty sure Stearns has been around a bit longer than he promised.
Maybe he has been around for too long, but Stearns thinks Cunha is just another inexperienced newbie who doesn't know how things work on the Hill.
These guys really have their McBama impressions down.
We could go on with these kinds of comparisons, but we would rather tackle a weird District 6 fact. Even though each candidate has had so many negative things to say about the other, they've never even met.
As recently as Wednesday, Stearns has blown off any opportunity to debate his opponent. This most recent would-be debate was supposed to take place at Santa Fe College.
Stearns offered to send one of his representatives down to do word-battle with Cunha, but the SFC Democratic Saints, who sponsored the debate-that-never-was, instead decided to transform the debate into a "Get to know Tim Cunha" event.
We can't help but laugh at this debacle. As if it weren't funny enough to hear Stearns (his representatives, anyway) echo McCain's "Do you know Barack Obama?" ploy, Cunha is down here campaigning against a guy who initially pledged to be out of Congress by 2000 but won't leave the capital for debate in his home district. Way to rep yo' city, Cliff.
So, if you aren't too busy, Mr. Stearns, please swing on by to debate Mr. Cunha. For those of us who were pestered into registering to vote in Alachua County, we'd like to hear something from two of the people we'll have to choose between.
