The other night I caught the YouTube-CNN Republican Debate for a few moments and was reminded of something that I’ve wanted to write down for a long time but never have:

There’s  something terrifying about politics, and it’s likely to not be what you think is terrifying.

It’s not:

• Hillary Clinton’s electability
• Nationalized healthcare
• The possibility that torture may or may not have been used at Guantanamo Bay
• Terrorism
• Iraq
• Iran
• Afghanistan
• China
• Cuba
• Britney Spears’ children

No, it’s none of the above. And probably none of the other issues people talk about in the news; it’s something darker, more subtle, more insidious.

I don’t even have a name for it. I just know that when I looked at those guys up there on that stage trying to answer questions YouTubers posted, I saw them as normal people. Homeowners, maybe well-to-do, with parents, maybe siblings, maybe wives and kids. I don’t know much about their personal lives, but they all, you know, wore clothes and probably were a little nervous, had friends who were supporting them, genuinely looking like people who wanted The Job. I’ve interviewed these people before.

And then, they opened their mouths. They became caricatures of themselves, their skin greying to the tone of newsprint and the outlines of their features bulging, twisting into place. It wasn’t Mitt Romney talking, it was The Face Of Mitt, the rough-sketch lines and distorted features happily proclaiming that he wouldn’t answer the question because it’s not, you know, a question to be answered, or something. It wasn’t a person anymore.

It’s bone-chilling to me to think that in order to lead this country you must become a political cartoon, with attendant absurdities — that you can’t be judged by the outcome of what you do, but must be judged by the look of what you say you want to do.

Imagine what it would be like at your job, if you worked under those conditions. Absolutely everything would require an opinion from you, immediately. An answer of “I need to think about it” means you’re indicisive; an answer which gives your honest opinion will be shredded in virtual print by an army of bloggers, journalists, and naysayers, and an answer that dodges the issues will be taken as a sign of incompetence.  Your face becomes the emblem of all that is wrong with the country, and your family will be scrutinized and dismissed if not up to standard, whichever standard that is.

I know that all of this is par for the course, and that it’s a necessary balancing act, providing the correct sound bites and perspective without losing votes; I recognize that it’s part of the job. It’s an awesome responsibility and no one ever said it would be easy.

But I’ve just gotta wonder: after all of this public, social bludgeoning,  is it the person running the country anymore, or is it only the opinion-page cartoon that survives?