Two hundred forty-eight days. That’s how long until Election Day 2016. In 248 days the madness of the 2016 elections will conclude, marking the end of what will be one of our most bizarre elections yet.

For better or worse, the First Amendment guarantees that all of the presidential hopefuls can campaign and rally as long as they please. Their campaign is unfettered by the whims of the common man, and as much as we hate on that every election cycle, it is the beauty of our political process. Maybe everyone shouldn’t be able to run, but most can.

When faced with candidates who challenge the norms and push our buttons, our knee-jerk reaction is to limit their freedom and put them back in our box of normalcy. Sure, at the time it seems like a great idea. But later, the knee-jerk reactions add up and begin to hem our freedoms, the freedoms that define America.

Is Donald Trump a monster? Sure, in some ways. Is Hillary just another chip of the establishment block? Yup. Is Bernie Sanders a scary socialist? Maybe. Is John Kasich …? Wait, who’s that?

All of these opinions can be fashioned to fit a predetermined mold that is meant to scare or radicalize readers. But why are we trying to scare everyone? Instead, let’s do away with the hysteria and use some good ol’ rationality.

The political process is fraught with drama already, the voter bloc shouldn’t add more.