This year's U.S. presidential race is sure getting interesting—to put it mildly. But to international observers, our current political fracas is entertaining, weird, and even freakish. A journalist at BBC News recently wrote: "For sheer entertainment value it is hard to beat the 'Road to the White House,' as it zigzags through the cornfields of Iowa, the snowfields of New Hampshire and so very many airfields that one becomes indistinguishable from another. Surely no other country can rival this electoral blockbuster. … With a new installment every four years, presidential elections have not only become an exercise in the franchise, but an exercise in franchising.

The problem is that the greatest democratic show on earth also doubles as the most outlandish. For international onlookers, it can seem freakish and bizarre: a long-running farce populated by cartoonish characters, which works as entertainment but is a poor advertisement for American democracy. … Like many good dramas, it is episodic. … Like every good soap opera, it can produce cliffhanger after cliffhanger … Like all good theatre, it brings together a compelling repertory company."

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sometimes it's painful but ultimately healthy to get that outside view, to hear from those people that speak the truth in love.

Source:

Nick Bryant, “Does America need to change how it elects its presidents? BBC (1-28-16)