Trivialities

I know, I know, you can't find any modern American politicians who are capable of conducting as serious and statesmanly a campaign as did Lincoln and Douglas in 1858, nor would Lincoln and Douglas themselves find much of an audience today for several hours of debate. Still, even today, can't one expect intelligent people not to waste their time thinking about utterly meaningless trivialities like whether Howard Dean was a bit over-excited in his Iowa concession speech?