So what have I learned by watching the news today? Well Don Imus said some very naughty things about the Rutgers women’s basketball team and got suspended from his job as a radio talk show host. I also learned who the daddy of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby is. Since it’s not me and it was no one that would make the media have a seizure, like OJ Simpson, I don’t care. Never really did think the kid was mine or care for that matter.
I’ve also picked up that John McCain thinks that Baghdad is as safe as Mayberry to walk around. Of course when 22 armed soldiers flank you, 10 armored Humvees and two Apache helicopters escort you, safety is kind of relative.
Of course the media covered McCain’s visit so well, because he is running for president. Apparently now the Presidential elections start in earnest right after the mid-term elections. This is a bad idea. Let me explain.
For one having these long drawn out elections makes for a lot of political burnout. If you think it’s rough seeing attacks ads on TV for a few months during an election. Try sitting through years of talking heads blabbering back and forth on TV about it. The apathy could be overwhelming. Americans are already alarmingly apathetic towards voting and politics in general. Force it down their throats for two years and their going to stay home on election Tuesday.
Also these long drawn elections favor the well-connected politicians with lots of ability to raise money. Generally this money comes from people who expect something in return. You would have to be a naïve little monkey to believe that candidates are drawing tens of millions of dollars from people making small donations. If we are ever going to end the cycle of presidents who are beholden to big business, we have to change the way elections are run. By allowing candidates years now to have fundraisers where big businesses pay thousands for a dinner and later expect to have the ear of the candidate we are never going to break this cycle.
Of course the media will more than likely coronate a candidate on February 5th 2008 when 20 states have their primaries. The media has taken to calling it Super Duper Tuesday. I’m not making that up. I wish I were. So all the primaries that follow good old Super Duper Tuesday might be utterly irrelevant. Somehow the idea of one day to hold all the primaries and caucuses just gets more tempting all the time. Why shouldn’t the whole country have a say in who gets to run for President from each party? We don’t hold the elections on separate days why hold the primaries on widely separated dates and make so many of them essentially meaningless?
As you might be able to tell, I’m suffering burnout. I know it’s necessary to keep an eye on the news and politics and I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either. It’s easy to burn out when so much of it seems so wrong.
I’ve also picked up that John McCain thinks that Baghdad is as safe as Mayberry to walk around. Of course when 22 armed soldiers flank you, 10 armored Humvees and two Apache helicopters escort you, safety is kind of relative.
Of course the media covered McCain’s visit so well, because he is running for president. Apparently now the Presidential elections start in earnest right after the mid-term elections. This is a bad idea. Let me explain.
For one having these long drawn out elections makes for a lot of political burnout. If you think it’s rough seeing attacks ads on TV for a few months during an election. Try sitting through years of talking heads blabbering back and forth on TV about it. The apathy could be overwhelming. Americans are already alarmingly apathetic towards voting and politics in general. Force it down their throats for two years and their going to stay home on election Tuesday.
Also these long drawn elections favor the well-connected politicians with lots of ability to raise money. Generally this money comes from people who expect something in return. You would have to be a naïve little monkey to believe that candidates are drawing tens of millions of dollars from people making small donations. If we are ever going to end the cycle of presidents who are beholden to big business, we have to change the way elections are run. By allowing candidates years now to have fundraisers where big businesses pay thousands for a dinner and later expect to have the ear of the candidate we are never going to break this cycle.
Of course the media will more than likely coronate a candidate on February 5th 2008 when 20 states have their primaries. The media has taken to calling it Super Duper Tuesday. I’m not making that up. I wish I were. So all the primaries that follow good old Super Duper Tuesday might be utterly irrelevant. Somehow the idea of one day to hold all the primaries and caucuses just gets more tempting all the time. Why shouldn’t the whole country have a say in who gets to run for President from each party? We don’t hold the elections on separate days why hold the primaries on widely separated dates and make so many of them essentially meaningless?
As you might be able to tell, I’m suffering burnout. I know it’s necessary to keep an eye on the news and politics and I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either. It’s easy to burn out when so much of it seems so wrong.
posted by Eric at 9:51 PM
1 Comments:
I understand you're suffering burnout, but there is some really good news in all this. It's the cross between the internet and campaigning. Unlike mainstream media, internet campaigning does not need to cost millions of dollars. In fact, the best of it will be grassroots & free. For example:
www.ExpertVoter.org
And ultimately deflating the money (and beholdings it causes) will be a very good thing for the cause of democracy.
gary
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