I’ve been having a lot of discussions with family and friends lately about the presidential race and the structure of American politics in general. I am sure many of you have been doing the same. As this comic says, one thing I’ve not enjoyed is the development of the scripted and rehearsed presentation of ideas by the candidates. Not that I don’t like a show. Nor is it that I want the candidates to speak before they have thought about the issues. I think what I’m after is a chance for them to engage in debate — with a wide array of actors, both domestically and internationally — and have to think on their feet and, well, not know what the next question may be. Perhaps then we will see more of their internal logic, and thus their true stripes.

One thing I certainly like about British politics is the Prime Minister’s question time. It’s a chance for Parliament to ask the PM anything, and s/he needs to be able to answer. While sometimes the questions are provided to the PM beforehand, the direction the questioning will take is not set. How might have Bush stood up to such questioning? Need I ask? How might either Obama or McCain stand up?

Another point that the comic makes, though, is that the line between what is real and what is imagined is increasingly blurred. Is this new, or is it history repeating? There has always been theatrics in politics, and games have often involved the loss of life (gladiator fights or bull fights) or have helped determine political clout (the recent Olympics for China). An excellent play on the game/reality divide is Sleuth, a stage play turned into 1972 movie with Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier (recently redone with Caine and Jude Law), which I saw this week.