How long will the political silly season go on? The simple answer is until the November election but this is not the right answer.
The political silly season goes on year round with politicians saying ridiculous and embarrassing things about their opposition. I believe that this silliness will go on for another century. It will continue until at least a quarter of the public understands what democratic politics is all about.
Democratic politics is about finding reconciliation between conflicting power bases; what James Madison called ‘factions’ in Federalist Paper #10.
The silly season will be over when we have politicians campaigning on the basis that ‘I am a successful compromiser an effective representative of powerful interests and excellent at reconciling differences.’