Spoiler Alert…too late- the title gave it away but read on if you’ve got nothing better to do.

In the debris-wake of the final debate of the 2012 presidential election, a fantastic certainty may have emerged. I know it’s a bold claim I make. Patience please.

It’s pretty darn exciting though, and rest assured if I’m right, and my insight is true- folks from coast-to-coast should be all-smiles and thumbs-up gestures this morning. The era of comity & brotherhood may be upon us.

Here’s the key to the mental-squinting and intellectual contortion required to achieve the enlightenment as a debate devotee…you must completely suspend disbelief. Stop listening to the “noise and interference” and attempt the journey to the core beliefs. OK…are you ready? Not quite?

Here are some tips to achieve this new level of consciousness, or self-delusion (take your pick):

• Strip away those parts of each candidate’s answers that included embellishments, distortions, attacks, zingers and moments-of-righteous indignation
• Fashion what remains into a summary of our hero’s world-views (rear-view mirror focused) and forward predictions

Here’s what you’re left with if you achieve the new consciousness. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO WINS. America sits on the precipice of a new era of greatness either way.

Beer goggles on…from the perspective of the incumbent, almost without exception things done by recent predecessors, perhaps at times well-intended, were ill-conceived, down right stupid, naive and poorly executed. Good news though…it is virtually self-evident that all these problems are now remedied, and darn it, it is working, just look at the numbers!

For the aspirational candidate- with a brand spanking new direction all things will work perfectly, and you won’t have to be patient because it is going to happen really fast since the incumbent is such a bungler.

In the case of the incumbent, proudly claim the enviable mantle of an exclusive lock on near-perfection; stay the course and all will be well…you sillies are just not patient enough.

For the aspiring candidate- awe inspiring sets of broad but simple principles…a tweak here and a complete-about-face there, and we’re good to go.

So how can we lose? These are smart guys, they know things we don’t know- it sounds fantastic either way!

Here is the point where we come out of the gauzy dream-state and return to the dull-stare.

This season’s debates were remarkable, but in the pejorative sense. The events so stage-managed, scripted and designed to appeal to baser instincts that truth and facts becomes chimera. The conventional wisdom ahead of the debate season was that no one watches these things and they don’t matter.

Whoops, folks in fact tuned in for the first debate in record numbers. In the blood in the water aftermath of debate one, the 24/7 pre/post television news cycle, tweets, blogs, robo-calls, web-news and instant messaging conspired to convince folks to tune-in for the next one, and the next one. Debates became spectacle.

Post debate-one, the secret to success became clear and our hero’s embraced the new normal. They locked themselves away to train and rehearse, preparing for the transformation into Rock-em Sock-em Robots. Honed to perform in two more ninety-minute round swing-fests. New rules: feigned indignity, bold assertions of un-truths, relentless deception, obfuscation, attacks, zingers and distortion, briefly interrupted in the clenches with precious few moments of real policy and leadership vision. All the while, the ring-side commentators tell us how to watch the fight and count the punches. Voters are left to try to figure out the truth in this melee. Sadly, it is not impossible to discern the truth, but it is beyond the desire of most voters to make the effort.

If our nation’s problems weren’t so serious, this would be amusing.

But who cares. Once this election is over, it’s all going to be great…trust me!