Be sure to buy the extra pack of darts; it saves time when you don't have to keep getting up from your computer and going to the TV to get the darts to reload.
I made it all the way through election 2000 and the aftermath without the dart gun, but I'm quite sure that I'm not going to make it through election 2004 without it. And I have Fox News Channel on my TV 90% of the time I'm watching news!