Prior to the end of the Writers Guild strike, author Stephen King raised an interesting question in Entertainment Weekly: Has presidential politics gone pop? Citing the record-breaking number of people tuning into the news since there were no shows to watch and the celebrities on the campaign trail, King said the race for president was starting to look like a reality show like The Great Presidency Race, or American Political Idol or even White House Survivor.

Knowing our penchant for capitalism and infotainment, I would not be surprised if one day there is a reality show to select the next president!

Are TV viewers’ habits changing because of the writers’ strike? Many reporters who cover entertainment—some at this very periodical—think they are, and that if the strike doesn’t end soon, the changes will accelerate. One change they’ve noted is the ever larger number of TV watchers who are tuning in to coverage of the campaign (which already feels four centuries old). The switch is partly because scripted TV episodes are in increasingly short supply, but it’s also because...damn, people are just interested. If anything has come clear in the last few months, it’s that citizens are tired of the Bush & Cheney Show. They want someone new. Almost anybody, it seems.

Programmers at cable nets like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night, and they’re not stupid. They’ve jumped on the bandwagon and produced a constant din of political palaver. Most is generated by the motormouths my friend the Long-hair calls "the White Guys in Ties Brigade." But it’s not all Pat Buchanan and Chris Matthews; there are also real stars! OMG!!

2008 has become the political equivalent of Celebrity Match Game. Huckabee fans include Ted "I Never Saw a Gun I Didn’t Like" Nugent and Chuck Norris, he of the scary teeth. Hillary Clinton’s got Barbra Streisand. John Edwards is running on empty with Jackson Browne. Rudy Giuliani has got...er, Bo Derek? Romney is trailing the field, celeb-wise, but still trying with Donny Osmond. And even Fred Thompson had a pet celeb: Pat Sajak! (I was hoping my guy Obama would get Sajak, but disappointment is a part of politcs.)

King bemoaned how the election process has turned into a game show. But that is the same argument that has been made about all aspects of American life – not just politics – since self-proclaimed "old fogy" King was a zygote. The fact so many people are tuned into politics and actually participating in our democracy is a good result of the elections gone pop IMHO.