Ms. O'Donnell

Today, it was announced that Christine O'Donnell is under investigation for using campaign funds to take care of personal expenses, including rent. This is newsworthy regardless of the candidate, but it's no doubt much more so because Ms. O'Donnell is such a spectacularly polarizing figure, and the most mock-able political figure in recent memory.

Her die-hard followers will doubtless consider this a personal attack created by a politically motivated department of justice. For the many among us who think that she's emblematic of the worst of American politics, it's more evidence that she's a corrupt fool who has already risen far beyond her Peter principle: an absolute incompetent elevated because her image kinda sorta resembles Sarah Palin's.

But the phenomenon that is Christine O'Donnell won't go away. She's a national figure because of her hijinks - from her alleged hook-up with a 20-something last Halloween to her campaign commercial where she protested the allegations she was a witch. Her lack of self awareness, good looks, and willingness to put herself out there make her a perfect reality-TV political candidate.

And this is the direction that American politics (and probably world politics is going). The difference between the policies of the candidates are so narrow, that we align ourselves behind the candidate whose personality most closely aligns itself with what we value. Not who we are, but what we proclaim to believe.

Barack Obama is popular with the left because he's a walking poster child for what Democrats would like this country to be: a multicultural, intelligent, good-looking, worldly, cool, self-possessed thinker who attempts to deal with parties rationally. Palin's popular with the right because she's a gun-toting, strong, fit, attractive, witty, mother who refused to have an abortion, even when she learned she was having a special needs child.

It doesn't matter if either is or was qualified to be President. What's important is that they're the best human symbols each party has conjured to represent our party's beliefs.

And just as it is on MTV's The Real World, which each year carefully chose a perfectly representative group of caricatured young men and women to represent rich white, poor black, flaming gay, lesbianism, etc. each year on its show, so too should we expect our candidates to represent a caricature of what each party believes.

It may not do much to support the stability of the country, but it should be plenty entertaining.