One of the innumerable TV talking heads made the prescient observation last week that Sen. Joe Biden “doesn’t have an off button.” He doesn’t have a lot of other buttons, either, like an honesty button, a non-partisan button, or a modesty button.

What he does have is a big ego button, a narcissism button, a windbag button, an arrogance button, a phony button, and a huge B.S. button.

There seems to be an inverse relationship between the sheer length of the American political process and the probity with which important issues are discussed, while the mainstream media abdicate their responsibility by focusing on the “horse race” aspects of the campaigns instead of pointing out what kind of governance this all will lead to.

A few veteran campaign watchers point out that presidential candidates are really part of a grand popularity contest — a vast "American Idol" show — not a plebiscite on things that really matter.