If you happen to find yourself disenchanted with the Olympics, you might remember that there is another interesting competition occurring, and this one takes place in our own country. This race has been in progress for over a year now, and it seems that fewer people are interested in the presidential race than with the games in Sydney.

The intriguing aspect about this race, however, is that its contestants are valued not only for their training, but for inherent features as well. While the competitors in Australia spent countless hours practicing and preparing for their chance to win gold, the outcomes to their games rely primarily on each individual's training. With the candidates in the United States, the situation is different. The two principle rivals, Bush and Gore, are graded by the public on issues which go beyond their experience and personal values. Decisions regarding these candidates are additionally based on criteria such as financial constraints, families, and personal backgrounds.

The issue of the amount of money spent on campaigning in recent years is definitely a popular topic. That is most likely the result of the incredible increase of funds used by nominees to run for president towards the end of the 20th. Presidential hopefuls spend a rapidly increasing amount in order to become elected, or slink off into the brush, to the point of excess.

Now it seems that those seeking office have to spend more and more money just to keep up with challengers. Those that cannot are less exposed, less known, and are often forced out of the race because they do not possess the financial means that others do. A prime example of this is Bill Bradley. Though he had the brains to be a great president, he does not possess the mind of a politician. He opposed over-spending, but when he put his belief into practice, he was left with a flat campaign and no money.

Voters also call candidates' family lives into question. Nowadays the representative of the United States of America must be an all-around family man as well. His practices as a spouse and parent are now closely scrutinized, through the apparent happiness of the marriage and success of the children. If all seems to suggest a close-knit 1950s-esque family where father knows best, mother has her own agendas on the side, whatever they may be, but can still bake fabulous cookies, and all the children excel in multiple extra-curricular activities as well as at school, then the family is acceptable.

This seems unfortunate to many people who would be otherwise wonderfully qualified candidates, but are disliked by the American public for some small flaw in the family that somehow, he was supposed to have fixed. Even though such an aspect does not dictate what sort of national leader this person would be, it seems that it is imperative that campaigners' family lives must be picture perfect. This also means that, if someone running for office is a bachelor or childless, he has little hope of becoming president.

Even the pasts of these presidential hopefuls are intensely examined. In addition to judging their own childhood families (recall America's obsession with the Kennedy "dynasty," and compare to the similar scrutiny placed on Bush and Gore), actions made more than twenty years ago come into play. Experimenting with illegal substances, purportedly uttering a racial slur, or participating in protests all seriously call into question the "true" character of candidates. Even if such behavior was never verified or occurred decades ago, such actions supposedly shed light onto their current personalities and in doing so, seriously harm presidential hopefuls' chances of winning.

It is a sad truth that the oft-expressed saying that anybody in the United States can grow up to be president is such a fallacy. What is true is that in this day and age, politicians are bred, not made. Though the United States was partially created so that all men are equal, the majority of those with governmental power come from upper-class families, have similar personal and familial backgrounds (and that's not mentioning the serious lack of diversity in gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, etc). Voters and the media weed out the majority of such people with different experiences so that this game is most definitely not a fair one.