Less democracy, please. I'm looking up endorsements from the Chicago papers online, desperately trying to form an opinion on whom I want to vote for in unknown races for offices I've never heard of. What, exactly, is the point? I'm reminded of Steve Chapman's column on Sunday:

Letting ordinary people choose their government officials is a good idea in principle. But we don't really need to elect the person who does the state's banking, any more than we need to elect the custodians who mop the floors of the capitol. Here in Illinois, the formula seems to be: When in doubt, put it to the voters--even if they couldn't possibly be competent to decide.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0211030402nov03,0,2997286.column