We’ve heard it, you’ve heard it. We may have all said it: “I’ll just be glad when this election is over. There’s no rest from it.”

With just a few weeks to go before Election Day, excitement over the presidential race is palpable, as new voters register in droves. Yet, it weighs us down with incessant negative advertising we just can’t seem to get away from, and from TV and radio broadcasts that act as if the Obama-McCain battle is the only thing happening in the world.

Maybe we need a “National No Politics Day” right about now.

This is the right time for it, when the saturation level is at its height. Congress, still wallowing in abysmal popularity ratings, could improve its standing with a sizable portion of the public today by asking that for one day in October, the national campaigns should stop all activity.

How’s that for an October surprise?

Consider, for a moment, the 2008 Election. Many have already complained it’s the “longest” campaign ever. The primary season was interminable, in part due to the unexpectedly tight race between Obama and Hillary Clinton, but also due to the media’s insistence on viewing every news item through the prism of presidential politics. Russia-Georgia? How will it help McCain? Financial meltdown? Will it turn voters toward Obama?

So on one day during the final drive to Election Day, perhaps it makes sense for McCain and Obama to cease all advertising, schedule no appearances and make no speeches. Broadcast media (cable networks especially) could focus instead on stories they’d previously ignored while covering the “horse race.” For good measure, Congressional leaders could ask that voters avoid discussing politics for that one day at the office water cooler, or even at the kitchen table.

The ban wouldn’t be total. Those diehard political junkies could still get their fix through the Internet and magazines, but the rest of us could breathe deeply, knowing we can turn on the TV without bracing for another depressing ad assault by Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

Then, when the politics-free day is done, the American voter — refreshed and invigorated — will be ready to resume the national debate with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. Mind cleansed. Passion restored. Better able to sort through the silliness and grasp a fresher understanding of the issues.

Twenty-seven more days to go.