We live in a nation where, if historical trends continue, nearly $4 billion will be spent during the 2014 campaign -- the most expensive midterm election in our history. All this money is being spent, yet there's no real impact on voter's knowledge of the issues. Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution wrote to me about a recent study Brookings conducted about the primary period of the 2014 election season: "To my surprise and to the surprise of our research team, the primaries, especially the Democratic ones, were largely void of substance with the exception of the old Democratic standby of protecting Social Security and Medicare.