OK, I admit I watched much of the GOP presidential debate on Monday, because, well, it's sort of my job.

But the whole set up -- New Hampshire, seven candidates, town hall meeting style questions, a full phalanx of talking head analysts parsing every word -- did have me checking the calendar to make sure that I hadn't slept Rip Van Winkel-style through 2011 and awakened in January 2012.

Truth be told, I had a similar "What year is this again?" feeling when folks in Washington started announcing in the last week runs and non-runs for various statewide executive offices on the 2012 ballot.  And some of the full-time political geeks who do campaigns for a living admitted similar feelings in conversations.

So I gotta wonder, how does the rest of America -- you know, the real people who have lives and  jobs and other things to occupy their minds -- feel about presidential debates nearly 18 months before an election? The Daily Show may have captured it best.