Presidential Election Survival Guide: Debates, Campaign Commercials and More

No, it's not your imagination. Like Christmas, campaigning for the presidential election is happening earlier and earlier. Presidential elections in the United States are a dog and pony show, a pageant, and we Americans can do nothing but accept that aspect of the political process.

Of course we want to make an informed decision, and we all accept the fact that commercial breaks from our favorite television shows will be peppered with negative ads against opponents who swear that under no circumstances they will "go negative," but there comes a point where the average American begins to wonder just how much they can take.

With campaigns and caucuses starting earlier than ever before, and politicians using every outlet possible to slam their message home, it's time to start talking survival techniques. Although the election may be everywhere, it can be avoided to where it is tolerable. The goal here is to be able to arrive at the polls ready to make an informed decision, not avoid them all together, sick of the entire process. So let's look at the biggest offender, and see what you can do to make it bearable.

Television. If you are a regular television watcher, and use television as a means to relax, you know how difficult election season can be on the senses. I already mentioned the political commercials, which in and of themselves will lead any regular watcher towards thoughts of suicide. They are incessant, at times insulting and they only increase in frequency.

And then there are the news channels, and the debates, not to mention talk shows, news magazines and special shows. Even those with the highest of thresholds find themselves reeling from the publicity. As they say, the best offense is a good defense. It's time to reclaim your television, and take it from a stress inducer back to the stress reliever it once was.