I am a procrastinator.  I know this is not a highly unusual ailment but it is one that has shaped my life since elementary school (when I would wait until the night before a book report was due to start reading page one of the assigned reading) all the way through to present day when this habit has actually contributed to the decline of a relationship (he couldn’t take the sound of me “hammering” the keyboard at 3 AM.)  

And while I need no excuse to procrastinate (Facebook, Youtube and taking my dog Nala for a walk are always at my disposal) the Olympics has presented and excellent source of procrastination over this past week.  Instead of being productive, I have indulged in both men’s and women’s synchronized diving, the steeplechase (who knew?), trampoline (again, who knew?), the entire two and a half griping hours of the women’s marathon and of course, all eight glorious swimming races where Michael Phelps won gold.

 Much has already been said about the Baltimore native who has captured nearly everyone’s attention during the Beijing Olympics but what struck me as particularly interesting was the way his story has been presented.  Hundreds of news stories and heartwarming video pieces have told the story of a little boy growing up in Baltimore, Md., raised by a single mom who enrolled him in swimming as a way to cope with his ADHD. 

We’ve heard about how his teachers were concerned that he couldn’t seem to sit still in kindergarten and that his classmates teased him for acting out and looking different as his swimmers body started to develop at age 11.  And this all culminated with how he pushed forward despite adversity and evolved to become the gold medal winning machine that we’ve all come to know and love.

So this got me thinking, why is it that we love our Olympians even more when we learn about their difficult pasts and current struggles but we tear down our presidential hopefuls who have lived through various forms of human adversity?  While much time is spent trying to unearth unsavory details about politicians (either by the opposition or the media), regardless of what is dug up, we never seem to see it is as something that could have potentially strengthened the candidate's ability to serve. 

Yes, I get that there is a huge difference between Michael Phelps representing our country as an athlete for two weeks in the Olympics versus Barack Obama or John McCain representing our country as president for four years but surely we cannot expect a president to come into office with a clean slate.  And yet somehow, that’s how we like ‘em, squeaky clean and completely free of any disease, deficiency or bad luck.  

 “We do want to see Olympians as more human, I think mostly because they are doing things that seem super human.  Whereas our politicians, they're us.  They are a part of the government OF the people FOR the people.  I don’t think that we get angry with them because they are politicians, but more because we see ourselves in them.  I mean Obama is a grassroots activist who moved through the political ladder.  He was you and me just 10 or 15 (ok probably 20) years ago.  But he was down here on regular people turf not too long ago.  Athletes were never us.  They have been practicing to be superman and superwoman since they were three,” said 26-year-old Cecilia Golombek, a senior program associate for a non-profit that specializes in promoting international education initiatives.

Maryland native, Amanda Greene, 22, says that sometimes we can’t see past a candidate’s past struggles because we’re simply giving them too much responsibility as an elected official.  “It is sometimes frustrating when you feel like the best guy for the job won't get elected because of a blemish in his past. I agree that this is stupid, but without knowing politicians (or Olympians) it's hard to judge which story defines them as a person...their past work or their personal drama?  Is the personal stuff just an unfortunate fluke that's keeping good people from holding office, or would we be electing a callous and self-centered official unfit to uphold the ideals of our government?” said Greene.

Next week, Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for president at the DNC and I wonder if this event could have the power to keep people in their seats at the Raven’s M&T Bank Stadium, waiting to watch the big event together, as hundreds of people did following a preseason Ravens game to watch Phelps win his eighth gold last week.  Maybe some of this Olympics excitement and desire to see our country succeed will spill over onto the election.  Or will we have already forgotten that patriotic desire to see our fellow Americans beat the odds and do something remarkable?