French philosopher and statesman Joseph de Maistre is credited with saying it first: "Every country has the government it deserves." In America, we more often credit the sentiment to Thomas Jefferson, who specifically said, "The government you elect is the government you deserve." Ouch. Regardless of the version or the originator, it hurts more than usual on this Primary Election Day in Indiana. It's designated as a state holiday, for all of the civic reasons that theoretically make sense. This year however, Hoosiers need to celebrate the end of the preseason, the undercard, the opening act that no one wants to watch at the overpriced concert. Do we really "deserve" this? Sadly, I must concede that we do. As much as I have made fun of the Republican primary campaigns this year being about nothing, there actually is some value hidden in the noise. It's telling us some hard truths about ourselves. One truth is that the campaigns I have viewed in central Indiana do not differentiate themselves in any meaningful way on the issue of governing. Writing down that "governing" is an "issue" being inadequately addressed in any campaign for public office is, well, a problem. Amazingly, the marketplace of ideas, has produced almost no actual ideas. It's easy to point at campaigns and complain that they aren't delivering what we, the voters, want. But in markets, supply and demand respond to one another. To summarize, we aren't demanding enough.   Connect with Michael Leppert Visit michaelleppert.com to read the full post and links to any resources or articles mentioned. Twitter @michaelleppert  Facebook at Michael Leppert  

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