While I’m not one to slap a “Kill Your Television” bumper-sticker on my car, I do appreciate the sentiment. In fact, one of the many reasons I’m voting for Obama is that he’s the only candidate who has been saying for years, and I quote, “children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets.” Reading his memoirs and listening to his speeches, one gets the sense that Obama owes most of his success to his mother who, a feminist and an educator, made reading a priority in her home. No wonder he does well among the “educated elite” (code these days for “people who read and think too much”). He speaks a language many so-called “low information” voters don’t. It’s a language marked by subtlety and understatement that appeals more to our intellect than our gut. Not necessarily the kind of stuff made for Crossfire, Hannity and Colmes, and The O’Reilly Factor.

And, unfortunately, all of this might work against him.

A 2007 NEA study found that 53% of Americans had not read a single book in the previous year. The same study revealed that those who do read are reading less (and with less proficiency) than ever. Meanwhile, television viewing is by far the #1 leisure activity in America. With slight variations due to their race, gender, class, and age, Americans watch an average of 4.35 hours of television. Daily.

I wonder, what are the broader social consequences of a nation that, by and large, does not read?

Perhaps this: A recent Newsweek poll found that 41% of Americans surveyed answered ‘Yes’ to the question “Do you think Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?” That total is actually up 5 points since September 2004.

Of course Bin Laden despised Hussein. Called him an “infidel” for cozying up to the Reagan administration during the Iran/Iraq war. Rumor has it, he’s been doing the happy dance. We got the wrong guy (but the right oil reserves) and he’s a free man with one less foe to fret over. And, apparently, his cause has grown increasingly popular.

This naturally depresses me. And probably you. So here’s something to cheer you up a bit:

Given all of the information above, do you really think most Americans will take the time to “read” the entirety of Obama’s economic policies? Or even be able to sit through this atypical, graphics-free, dare I say straight-talk political ad? Methinks not.