It's finally heating up in Manchester, N.H.
The kids are returning home from college, the sun is out longer, summer vacation plans are coming to fruition, and the 2016 campaign has just begun.
You read that right - 2016. Not even a full year after the presidential election, both parties are gearing up for the next one, and New Hampshire - a battleground state with its first-in-the-nation primary - is the first step.
Oddly enough, the race wasn't kicked off by Hillary Clinton's declaration of candidacy or a Marco Rubio stump speech, but by a vote by Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte.
Ayotte voted against an amendment in the U.S. Senate that would have required universal background checks on firearm purchases. She wasn't alone by any stretch - she joined 45 other Senators who voted against the measure, which failed to reach the 60 votes it would have required to pass.
Ayotte's poll numbers have taken a huge hit, and although she's not up for re-election until 2016, the campaign ads have started. Do you hear the flourish of trumpets? The games have begun.
This is what political scientists call the "permanent campaign," and unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be getting any better. The ads that are airing in New Hampshire aren't from Ayotte's campaign, they're from large political action committees (PACs) like support from the National Rifle Association and scorn from Americans for Responsible Solutions, the newly-formed PAC by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
The permanent campaign isn't all bad - although some voters might feel overwhelmed by campaign ads, they at least will be aware of impending elections - but what's most damaging is its effect on our representatives and their ability to govern.
The amendment for universal background checks was proposed by a Democratic senator, Joe Manchin from West Virginia and a Republican senator from Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey.
Toomey openly admitted after the amendment failed that many members of his party actually supported the idea, but they refused to give the president a win on something he cared about strongly.
Similarly, Sen. Rubio is proposing an immigration reform package, and has received scorn from the most conservative of circles that his plan is too close to amnesty, although he has taken care to make it stricter than the White House proposal.
Politics is a game of self-preservation, after all. As polarization continues to increase, compromise becomes more and more unlikely, and the American people suffer above all
Hillary Clinton has announced her candidacy for 2016's presidential election.
