I listened to the Democratic candidates for President debate each other on CNN Sunday night. Suffice it to say none of them have the “spirit and power of philosophy,” as Plato phrased it.

They spent a good portion of their precious on-air time imprecating President Bush. You’d think they were running against him. They spent the rest of their time trying to differentiate themselves from each other — unsuccessfully, for the most part. There are some subtle differences, but they’re largely indistinguishable.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Republican debate on Tuesday will be no better.

It’s too bad there aren’t more confidence-inspiring candidates out there today. But my guess is that those best-qualified to be President just aren’t electable in a country that elevates image over depth, witty retorts over reasoned dialogue, and one-dimensional sound-bytes over nuanced policy discussions.

I suppose it’s always been that way to some extent, but it’s worse than ever now. Consider the fact that a candidate can get knocked out of the race by simply shouting “Yeeaah” on camera. There were lots of reasons not to vote for Howard Dean, but showing exuberance at a political rally wasn’t one of them.