shorter presidential debates...and just as tedious

The business and power of the state take place not in representational assemblies - and certainly not in the vapid spectacles of partisan pandering - but in the deeper and more encompassing structures of state bureaucracies, (i.e., public and private,) which imbricate one another - and dictate the conditions of who you vote for and how you live your little life.      

The exercise of this kind of power is not even acknowledged because on a very fundamental level it presents no overt conflict to behold. Just like in a magnetic field which alters the motion and positions of objects susceptible to magnetism, powerful forces dominate from the periphery, from unseen or unknown coordinates, by simply structuring the very parameters of the field of operations as well as the rules of engagement and the possibilities for direction and movement. Of course, albeit these powers easily do away with more unpredictable irritating factors from appearing altogether, conflict still appears - if one chooses to call it that - but only within the acceptable confines of engagement. Contests, like official Debates, are thus dramatized to heighten differences, and hide unspoken accords and presumptions. "Coke vs Pepsi," for example, effectively distracts you from how similar their ingredients are. And elections are staged precisely to feed you bullshit & make you stupid by inflating and twisting your mind while garnering the halo of legitimacy.

Of course, to avoid boredom most of us end up drinking some form of kool-aid anyway. Moreover, our suspension of disbelief enables us to exaggerate the differences between the actors, and take sides. We even try to push and pull in some directions against or at the expense of others. We even sometimes even place bets or look to influence the field in some banal, trivial way. But we can't. Those few however who are capable of coordinating the field given their institutional positioning and financial clout don't like being bored either - and so they do some bidding bidding of their own. And so it goes.