Tuesday night, something ironic happened. And I’m not talking about the election of a black man.Around 10 p.m., when networks across the nation began rolling in their projections of Sen. Barack Obama’s victory, many pundits expressed surprise at how early — how quickly — the results arrived. The irony is these statements were made at the conclusion of a 21-month-long campaign — one that many are calling the longest presidential campaign in U.S. history.I’m 22 years old: that means more than one out of every 13 days I’ve been alive has occurred during this campaign season.I had never heard of Obama 21 months ago. Sen. John McCain was a faceless entity whom I vaguely remembered from the 2000 presidential election. Yet through those 21 months, the candidates raised (for the first time) more than $1 billion, crisscrossed the nation and may have generated the largest voter turnout rate (some estimates placing it as high as 64 percent) in 100 years.But like walking into Wal-Mart the day after Halloween and finding Christmas trees inside, our nation’s political entities are ready to out-do themselves yet again.An AP story released Wednesday indicated both parties are already looking toward the 2010 gubernatorial elections to influence the 2012 presidential race.And remember Joe the Plumber? Well, in an appearance on a conservative talk radio show Oct. 24, Joe Wurzelbacher suggested he’s considering a congressional run in 2010. The radio show host immediately offered to manage his campaign, and the National Republican Committee has also given signs of support. Sure, Wurzelbacher would be running against a popular 25-year Democratic incumbent who breezed through her 2006 election with almost 75 percent of the vote, but Joe knows how to evade taxes! And if I’ve learned anything from Orleans Parish, it’s that voters love a crook.You can’t make this stuff up.What we really need is a 48-month election cycle. When new presidents step into office on inauguration day, I want them to be immediately placed on lame-duck status. That’s the kind of democracy this country really needs.But until that happens, I’ll have to focus on the important things: beating ‘Bama, no shave November and Sarah Palin-themed erotic fiction.—-Contact Daniel McBride at [email protected]