Columbus, Ohio? They’re taking us to Columbus, Ohio? you might wonder as your plane angles down toward the neat, grey grid of America’s sixteenth largest city. A city that gave birth to Wendy’s and Value City. A city whose residents oddly boast that it’s one of the U.S.’s cloudiest (ranking fourth—just behind Seattle). A city that is known for its year-round culture of Buckeye Fever where one-tenth of its population fills the stadium on Fall Saturdays for Ohio State football.

America loves a hero. So does the rest of the world. Perhaps it’s our desire to be saved, to not have to do the hard work, to rely on someone else to figure things out. Constantly we are barraged by politicians presenting themselves as heroes, the ones who will fix everything and make our problems go away. It’s a seductive image, an enticing promise. And we keep believing it. Somewhere there’s someone who will make it all better. Somewhere, there’s someone who’s visionary, inspiring, brilliant, and we’ll all happily follow him or her. Somewhere…