When the camera pans across the stage at the Democratic and Republican presidential debates, I’m hard pressed to find a candidate that feels authentic.

Look at the top tier candidates on the Republican side. Mitt Romney oozes insincere charm. Mike Huckabee feels like an “aw shucks” huckster. John McCain has earned a reputation for being the real deal, but even he’s apparently gone faux to appease the right wing of his party.

Now look at the top tier candidates on the Democratic side. Hillary Rodham Clinton initially tried to suppress her one moment of authentic emotion in New Hampshire, and now she’s smugly milking that moment for voter sympathy without taking off her practiced smile again. Barack Obama began with full presence, but the more he advances in the polls, the more he seems to be speaking by rote and saying what his handlers tell him to say, much like Robert Redford in the classic film, “The Candidate.” John Edwards lets his passion show when he talks about the widening gap between the rich and poor, but is he donating his millions to fund anything more socially significant than his own campaign?

The only two candidates who feel real to me are Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. They can afford to be themselves on stage because they both know the mainstream press has brainwashed the vast unthinking majority of Americans into believing these two outspoken candidates are not “viable.” While the two men agree strongly on defending our evaporating rights and liberties, they disagree just as strongly on monetary and fiscal policies. I wish we could bundle the two together into one progressive/libertarian super candidate that the corporate media could not ignore.

Meanwhile, the presidential campaigns continue with the press focusing on the horse race and largely ignoring the candidates’ positions on major issues beyond mentioning in passing which constituency prefers this or that position.

Between mostly fake candidates and mostly fake news coverage, what chance does democracy have? We might as well populate the stage at the presidential debates with inflatable dolls hooked up to iPod recordings.