Everybody Wins!

It's what my mother-in-law likes to call a "win-win" situation. Nobody gets embarrassed. Everyone comes away feeling good with their collective self-esteem intact. We like to have these experiences on our playground, where we shut down the heavy-handed competition and focus on the participation: If you had fun, you won.
But this is a presidential election year. Wouldn't it be best, self-esteem aside, if there was a clear cut victor? Super Tuesday was an advance in the non-decision of the Republican nominee, with exit polls showing that nobody's all that fired up about any of the candidates. Rick won a few. Mitt won a few. Even Newt scraped together a win in Georgia. Ron Paul continues his campaign against reason. This leaves the door open for all kinds of things to creep in over the next few months. Something creepy.
Here's what one voter in the Alaska primary had to say: "I will tell you who I voted for tonight... the cheerful one, it's Newt Gingrich," she told Fox News, referring to the one-word description the former House Speaker gave of himself at a debate last week. Newt didn't win in Alaska. Mitt Romney did, tightening his wobbly grip on the pending nomination of his party. Did this bother this Alaskan Republican? "But to be brutally honest, and I say this with all due respect to governor Romney, who is obviously the front runner, he's not garnering a lot of that enthusiasm right now." So much so that this enthusiastic GOP member announced, "Anything is possible. I don't close any doors that perhaps would be open out there, so no, I wouldn't close that door. My plan is to be at that convention." Apparently the reality-TV market has chilled a little up in Wasilla. But closing the door would imply completion, and since this is not Sarah Palin's strong suit, we can only cringe in anticipation of her return.
No word on whether she finished filling out her entire ballot.