And you thought reality television could not get any worse. After the huge successes of “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “American Idol,” FX plans to take the whole idea a step further — to the 2004 presidential election. And more power to them.

The show, which will be called “American Candidate,” will allow viewers to judge candidates based on their speaking abilities, stances on campaign issues and undoubtedly attractiveness, according to the Washington Post. Over the show’s six-month course, viewers and judges will pick one top candidate from 100 show qualifiers, selected by supposed experts from a pool of people able to gather 50 signatures on a show petition. FX, Fox’s cable network, announced their purchase of the show’s rights last Friday and said the show would include ideas from “American Idol” and “War Room,” a documentary about the 1992 presidential election, according to the Post.

“American Candidate” is just FX’s admission of what most of us already know – politics have denigrated so much since the advent of the television campaign that many American voters no longer select their candidate based on traditional qualifications, like moral and ethical beliefs and stances on real campaign issues. Looks and personality have replaced ideas for fixing health care and social security as determinants of campaign winners. Candidates’ debate performances are not judged on their innovative ideas, but on their delivery of those ideas. So why not admit it and just call it reality TV?

In an ideal world, national campaigns would not be popularity contests based on candidates’ abilities to raise large amounts of cash and produce the best made-for-TV image. Ideally, voters would all be politically knowledgeable, interested in a given campaign’s issues and in tune with candidates’ plans and beliefs. But this is not reality. Voters form opinions based on sound bites and candidate advertisements, obfuscation and spin.

FX’s show may even bring a new demographic into the political fold. Young voters are the most politically apathetic age group in history. “American Candidate” has the potential to generate real political interest in a group that is tuning politics out more and more every four years. And if not, it could just make for great entertainment.

Though they will benefit from a great deal of publicity, the show’s winner is not guaranteed a competitive spot in the campaign. The “American Candidate” will still have to raise his or her own campaign funds — FX does not plan to run the winner’s campaign or break national campaign regulations, according to the Post.

“American Candidate” is an interesting idea that deserves a look. Our president would ideally be chosen based on traditional political qualifications. And, hell — we’ll watch.