It's political season and all cameras are pointing to Washington as it preps for The Great Depression II. The signs are everywhere. Last Thursday my horoscope read, “;Reallocate assets. Reconnect with rich relatives. Restock canned goods.”;

Usually, Digital Slobs like nothing better than to sit around watching the sky fall on cable news. But I used up all my vacation days earlier this year when my money's value hit its yearlong peak of next to nothing. Now I'm too busy trying to earn a living to sit and hear talking heads tell me living is not realistically within reach for someone with my credit history.

For those like me, however, I have an answer that will keep us informed even as we keep our heads down in the rat race: free, portable politics.

Everyone knows a four-minute song on iTunes costs 99 cents. If you want to cut that song down to a 30-second ringtone, it'll cost you another 99 cents. Yet through this same application, you can get thousands of hours of political coverage and analysis in both audio and video formats from hundreds of sources downloaded automatically to your computer, iPod, iPhone or other compatible mp3 player for—wait for it—absolutely nothing.

  How many of us know about this feature? Not enough.

So here's a basic road map that points the way toward getting more out of your portable media devices, letting them help you stay up on the issues when you're otherwise being brought down by issues of your own:

If you haven't already, install and then open iTunes on your computer. On the left side of the application window, click on the “;iTunes Store”; icon. Even though it says “;Store,”; rest assured your credit card will remain unmolested (though we both know that Visa has been around the block more than a few times).

Once on the iTunes homepage, click “;Podcasts”; on the left side, then scroll around a bit and peruse the postage-stamp-sized icons. This time of year, you'll see an entire section devoted to “;Election '08.”;

Use the arrows on the right and left to scroll around sections, like virtual revolving postcard stands. You'll see familiar faces and show titles that, depending on your political perspective, might make you salivate or foam at the mouth: “;NPR: It's All Politics,”; “;Fox News Sunday,”; “;CNN: Politics Daily”; and “;Face the Nation,”; to name a few. Use “;Power Search”; on the top left to key in familiar names, from Hannity to Maddow.

Click on one that appeals to you, and you'll see its show page, complete with descriptions, episode lists and customer reviews. Click “;get episode”; if you want to download just one show, or “;subscribe”; if you want the latest episode, and all future episodes, downloaded into your iTunes library (and synced to your iPod when you plug it in) automatically.

This last step is the most important: By subscribing (again, for free), you get the benefit of having the latest episodes delivered to your device every time you plug it in.

So, that's not so hard, maximizing your free time while on the move. Still, there's only 24 hours in a day, so many will still have to make hard choices.

I, for one, plan to drop horoscopes.