Editor's note: This is the first in a series of six Alaska Robotics News multimedia commentaries leading up to the 2014 general election. Look online for new videos each Monday and Thursday.

I'm trying to have a conversation at Juneau's Alaskan Bar during a crowded open mic night. I'm making the right shapes but it's impossible to tell if the words are coming out of my mouth. It's just loud.

The lead singer is perched on a wobbly stool with his face smushed up against the microphone. He's sweating like a beast and demanding attention through sheer force of amplification. The chorus is cliche but the words are 10 feet tall and impossible to avoid.

He sings like he's running for U.S. Senate.

I don't know why the messages become so simple and contrived in political races. It's as if we voters demand that all complex thought be boiled down to a sludge before serving. We invite the clanging and banging of the campaigns, the chest thumping candidates who make it a contest of who can do the most flips on a snowmachine rather than who can craft the best policy.

Obamacare. Jobs. The Koch Brothers. These aren't thoughts, they're holes cut in a painted sheet of plywood for lazy politicians to stick their heads through. It's time we ask for more.

Discourse is the exchange of thoughts and ideas through conversation. It's a concept that belongs in a science fiction novel. Fantastic creatures who can link minds and transfer knowledge through sound waves. Our aspiring leaders need to embrace this power and show us they can use it responsibly.

I'm looking forward to more conversation and more debates as the election draws closer. I hope our candidates will work to distinguish themselves by thinking and communicating in meaningful ways. I want to see them as real people, I want to see them acknowledge and face complicated issues as if they were trying to solve a problem instead of sell a solution.

It's closing time. The lights are up and the band is loading instruments into a dented van. This probably wasn't the best place to try to have a conversation, people don't come here for conversation.

Created by Pat Race, Lou Logan, Aaron Suring, Jamie Karnik and many others, Alaska Robotics News is a political satire series focused on Alaska. The series was initially funded through Kickstarter and some cash donated in an unmarked brown paper bag. Alaska Robotics is a group in Juneau publishing short films, comics and many other creative works. Follow their projects online at AlaskaRobotics.com or in person at their gallery at 220 Front Street.