It must be election day soon!

Don't forget to vote next Tuesday.

"What," you say, "I didn't know there was an election scheduled."

There must be. Judging from all the so-called election coverage, it must be pretty soon. Why, the so-called experts have already picked the party nominees, so why not go ahead and have the vote and get it over with!

Seriously, it is incredible how the networks and especially the news channels have gone berserk.

So, as this is written, judging from the coverage, the new president is sure to be Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Whoops, that changed recently; it could be that socialist senator Bernie. Whoops again, don't rule out vice-president Biden who, by the time you read this, will probably be in the race.

I guess the election is a little premature.

I wasn't going to get into politics until a "friend" asked what I thought about all this brouhaha in Iowa and New Hampshire which won't hold their caucuses until next year. Sometime in February, isn't it?

I've witnessed numerous presidential bids dating to the Dewey-Truman surprise more years ago than I want to think about. The one thing about that election is "it isn't over 'till it's over," so let's just sit back, relax and let the "experts" drive us crazy until party conventions are held. Then we'll have only many more months until election day in November and the results finally come in.

Some entities, especially TV moguls, are getting rich. They, through the cable and dish companies, might be persuaded to give us a break on our bills a couple of times. Don't hold your breath.

Back to reality. The winners do seem to have been picked. At least three or four of the almost 22 party candidates are getting all the free "news" coverage. Trump, Clinton, Bernie and, of course, Biden cannot breathe without having all the cameras rolling. The rest of the candidate crop ought to join forces and schedule individual news conferences several times a day, make controversial statements and just sit back and grin as the cameras whir and the airways are cluttered with the results.

Talk about slanted picture exposure. I guess it's always been that way; it just seems more so this year.

Let's take a break and backtrack a few paragraphs as the younger readers scratch their heads wondering what happened in that 1948 election between Dewey (the Republican) and Truman (the Democrat seeking re-election). That was the year Dewey was the "assumed and assured" winner, so much so the Chicago Daily Tribune, in its early-morning issue after the election, published that famous headline: "Dewey defeats Truman." A photo of President Truman holding the paper and telling the press, "That ain't the way I heard it," became famous.

That was, of course, before I was old enough to vote. And, besides, I didn't have the required poll tax.

Poll tax, what's that? Ask grandma or grandpa or look it up on the Internet. We've come a long way. Today some idiots -- pardon the expression -- are advocating letting non citizens, illegal aliens, immigrants vote. Yep, we've come a long way.

That's my political column for now. I've already picked who I think the next President will be. No, it won't be Obama, though I think he would accept it if he could. I'll let you in on my prediction later. After all, it's almost 15 months until the election. Just tune out the --------!

Dodie Evans is the former owner and publisher of the Gravette News Herald. Opinions expressed are those of the author.