With regard to the Obama crew, no one should be surprised. He ran a campaign in 2008 designed by and for young people. Fortune-cookie phrases became the mantra of the man running to be leader of the Free World. Obama girls swooned. We also see teenage behavior from media organizations, many of which have been deeply unserious in their choice of topics, in their willingness merely to regurgitate White House spin, in their obsession with contrived personality fights (remember Majority Leader Eric Cantor vs. House Speaker John Boehner?) and in their refusal to diversify their ranks with reporters who don’t subscribe to cool-kid liberalism.

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Some blame the culture generally for this phenomenon. But while the culture has dumbed down the country, made language more coarse and people less polite, commerce still gets done, parents raise kids, soldiers fight magnificently well — all using a healthy mix of common sense and expertise. Compare the way pols talk and act with the tone and conduct of parents, co-workers, business owners, military men and women (not the Beltway-tamed pseudo politicians) and professionals you interact with outside of politics. Frankly, a disturbingly large number of politicians bear as much resemblance to working adults as sitcom TV parents do to real ones.

What else has been unserious of late?

* Appointing Chuck Hagel as defense secretary. Imagine a CEO of the company hiring someone so obviously in over his head and unable even to effectively work from a script. (Might the shareholders think the CEO has lost it?)

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* Running around hollering that the sky is falling if the sequester goes through. Would you want to rely on a co-worker who at the first sign of trouble rolled out a parade of phony horribles? (Might you prefer to work alone in the future?)

* The Senate majority leader, like the wide-eyed grouch screaming for kids to get off the lawn, making a Senate election about two rich donors in a sea of rich donors. Imagine a doctor, instead of rendering germane medical advice, going on rants about Big Pharma’s conspiracy to take over medicine. (Might you get another doctor?)

* U.S. senators shutting down the government because “the important thing is to fight.” Imagine a Marine with such a nonspecific and self-destructive mindset, blowing up his own facility just to show he can do it. (Might his commanding officer initiate court martial — or medical — proceedings?)

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* The media fixating on a senator drinking from a water bottle in a response to the president’s State of the Union address. Imagine a parent obsessed for weeks about a dropped fork at the dinner table. (Might the spouse inquire whether something is wrong?)

This gap between everyday experience and politics is one reason average citizens rate politicians so poorly. But the voice of conscience and maybe fear (for the country) still beckons. The interest in GOP governors or ex-governors to run in 2016 is in large part a search for maturity. Governors certainly are perceived as less politically infantile in large part because they have to do things (e.g. pass budgets, deal with Medicaid). The incentive for silly stunts is much lower at the state level while the consequences of gridlock, bad governance and extreme policies are acutely and swiftly felt.

And Republicans, no matter how much they dislike Hillary Clinton’s politics and can accurately recite her policy flubs, should be aware that to most voters she comes across as serious and mature. Putting up a fire-breathing nominee with a bunch of silly ideas and little depth of knowledge would be like sending a Little Leaguer up to bat against the Detroit Tigers.

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So where is the GOP grown-up? Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is impressing donors and conservative wonks in large part because he talks, doesn’t scream; explains, doesn’t regurgitate catch phrases; and seems comfortable in his own skin, rather than inhabiting a cartoon role. Other governors, including Indiana’s Mike Pence and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, do the same.