HALPERIN'S TAKE: Enough Already

Things we would prefer to see banned through Election Day:

-- Media coverage driven by horse-race polling data.

--John McCain's use of his signature phrase, my friends.

--Barack Obama's referring to himself as a symbol.

--Members of Congress trying to out-outrage the other party.

--Superfluous use of the phrase the race card.

--The Hilton family injected into the campaign.

--McCain's repetition of any joke he first told in the '80s.

--Obama complaints about negative press attention.

--Both campaigns' going on the attack reflexively when the opposing candidate misspeaks on the trail.

--Coverage of Internet campaign videos as if they were paid television ads.

--The focus on the trivial and superficial while the nation remains at war and teeters on the edge of an economic recession.