Hoping for dignity in politics may be too much to ask, but the current state of affairs is simply embarrassing. I only hope that much of the hoopla will die down as the months pass and the field of candidates is narrowed down. It goes without saying that Barack Obama will run for reelection in 2012 as a Democrat, but it’s still not clear whom his main GOP opponent will be. The frontrunners—and by that, I mean the ones that actually have a chance, not the loudest or most controversial—appear to be Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty, in no particular order.

And then there are the rest—sadly, the ones we’re hearing from the most. Newt Gingrich is considering a run; frankly I think he’s the mildest of this bunch. There’s Rick Santorum, the ultra-conservative. If you haven’t heard about his (well deserved, IMO) “Google Problem” by now, just type his last name into a search engine. That’s all I’m sayin’ about that. And Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin? They’re riding the thin line between crazy and scary. Rounding out this bunch is Donald Trump. The Don. The Combover. Most folks in the commercial real estate industry are wary of doing business with him; the fact that some people in this country can’t see beyond an obvious publicity stunt and view him as a serious potential candidate is downright frightening.

Hey, maybe the Mayan calendar will prove correct and none of this will matter. Then again, if Trump or Palin end up in the White House, the world may as well come to an end.