The 2008 presidential election is now less than a year away. Primary season is fast approaching. Get ready because pretty soon the TV commercials will be in full swing. These annoying commercials made by the candidates will play repeatedly for months and they all say the same thing, "I am the person who can lead this country in a time of need." They all claim to be the "consistent" candidate.

Over the past few weeks, the media have been dishing out more and more cheap shots against the candidates. Hillary Clinton has been criticized for a poor showing in the latest debate. Barack Obama was ridiculed for failing to put his right arm over his heart during a reading of the Pledge of Allegiance. To me, it is so ridiculous to even give these moot stories any airtime on CNN. The bottom line is who cares? So what if Obama forgot to put his hand on his heart and who cares that Clinton did poorly in one debate? I can't blame them. I am not one to usually defend Clinton, but there seems to be a Democratic debate every week and eventually she will have to make some poor statements. That's just the law of averages. I mean Obama and the other candidates have spoken daily for months now and Hillary Clinton has never really left the public spotlight. Small mistakes will be made and the media don't have to showcase them as "Breaking News!"

What I am saying goes for all the candidates, not just the Democratic hopefuls. All the candidates need some slack. Nobody is perfect and if there is one thing the American public seems to currently agree on, it's that the current president is not perfect. Consistency is the key and always will be in my mind. John Kerry lost the 2004 presidential election for a number of reasons, but the most obvious one is that he wasn’t consistent in his stances on the issues. Kerry was and still is a "flip-flopper." In 2004, the United States was involved in an increasingly unpopular war and the economy was in shambles. Yet, the incumbent, George W. Bush, still won re-election. When I study candidates, I never base my decisions by looking at one particular issue or one particular speech made by a candidate. I try to find the most consistent politician. Unfortunately in today's world, a consistent politician is a dying breed.