The question of who we should vote for has already been settled. It's Bush or Gore, of course. Who actually thought it would be otherwise? I once thought a McCain insurgency just might happen for awhile. With the results from Super Tuesday in, I reflect and wonder just how foolish I could have been to believe that smoke—filled rooms still don't govern the outcome of our politics.

Take for example New York. For a time Gov. Pataki, touted as the Republican reformer, with his cronies were only going to allow Bush on the ballot. Only after tremendous publicity was that communistic ploy retracted. The machine has placed Bush on the upside in many other places. Indeed Bush Sr. had his son's presidential candidacy in the works long ago.

With the primaries decided for us before we Hoosiers have a chance to vote, we are left with two less than thrilling candidates. On the left we have Clinton's hand—picked successor who will never shy away from the thought of pandering, or from Buddhist money contributions for that matter. And, on the right we have the American aristocrat who is too afraid to make any enemies, whose de facto campaign manager, Pat Robertson, thinks a worthy debate for his TV show is discussing the acceptance of pre—marital kissing as no longer being a sin.

Do any of the characters that the primaries has presented ring any bell for me? I don't think so. What have the political parties given me? The answer is two candidates that were forecasted to be more than a year ago.