The cure for campaign fatigue

I don’t think I’m the only one with a case of “elective compulsive disorder—a relentless obsession about this election,” said Patt Morrison in the Los Angeles Times. Polls, weather patterns in Ohio, more polls—“nothing’s too minor to obsess over.” ECD is everywhere: bumper-sticker road rage, stealing lawn signs, and worse. Luckily, with less than a week left, “the end of crazy is in sight.”

Compulsion? How about “sudden election fatigue syndrome?” said Jeralyn Merritt in TalkLeft. “I’m electioned out,” avoiding the national news, and rarely checking the Internet. Maybe it would be different if the election were closer, but it seems over, and things may not get interesting again until January.

Well, you clearly haven’t caught the “Obama derangement syndrome” that’s “sweeping the nation,” said Kirsten Powers in the New York Post. This malady, “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people” over anything to do with Barack Obama, is an offshoot of “Bush derangement syndrome,” except this time “it’s bipartisan,” afflicting Republicans and Hillary Clinton supporters alike.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

If you can’t take it any more, said Bill McEwen in The Fresno Bee, it turns out there’s a “perfect remedy for voter-fatigue syndrome”—voting early. Many states now allow it, and once you cast your ballot, you can ignore Keith Olbermann, Sean Hannity, Joe the Plumber, and all the gossip and innuendo of the “silly season.” It feels great.