Even though I'm a bit of a political junkie, I'm nearly ready to scream "uncle!" This political season is going on too long. Don't get me wrong. Until recently, I've enjoyed every minute of it. After all, what's not to love about a campaign where the Republican-endorsed candidate for a U.S. Senate seat has to deny that she is a witch? Or another Republican candidate, in a neck-and-neck race against the Senate Majority Leader, who has more gaffes than George W. Bush and has been endorsed by the likes of Joe the Plumber. It just might turn out that the biggest winner of the midterm election is someone who isn't even on the ballot this year. Compared to kooks and extremists like Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angle, Sarah Palin is beginning to look rationale and moderate. Well, not quite. If the characters (and I do mean characters) aren't enough, we have an avalanche of campaign funding to hold our interest. Thanks to a Supreme Court decision earlier this year, corporations are spending freely on campaigns. This check writing with abandon is making the old days of Political Action Committees funding candidates look downright quaint. In California, we have Meg Whitman who, in her quest to be governor, has set an all-time record for personal spending with her campaign. A recent report says she has spent $140 million of her money in her campaign and is willing to spend another $10 million before the November 2nd election. Ms. Whitman's campaign makes Mark Dayton's efforts look like little more than pocket change. But we don't have to look to California for crazy political contributions. Our very own Michele Bachmann has set a record for a U.S. House race in the state raising $10 million in her bid for a third term in Congress. So let's get this straight. California has a $19 billion deficit and one candidate for governor, a billionaire, could spend $150 million on her campaign. In Minnesota, we have a $6 billion deficit and a sole candidate for the U.S. Congress has raised $10 million. As a nation, we can come up with billions of dollars to throw at campaigns yet we can't come up with a plan to reduce state and federal deficits? Really? Looks to me like we're investing in the wrong candidates. There are, however, indicators that this political season, too, shall pass. Other stories are edging out politics in the press. Former auto tycoon, convicted fraudster and newly jailed, Denny Hecker is back on the front page of Minnesota's newspapers. So too are grisly crimes. People are tuning into Minnesota Public Radio's annual fall member drive just to get a break from all of the political reporting. Come November 3, we will know the outcome of the election and, for a week or two, political pundits will, in great detail, explain for us what it means. Then we will enjoy the holidays and wait for the 2012 presidential campaign to begin sometime shortly after the ball drops on 2010 in Times Square.