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Tuesday, 20 February 2007 16:14 |
| | Bill Walz |
The American electorate is once again being poorly served by the corporate media, turning this coming presidential election into a rigged star-search.
This is exactly the situation that gave us George Bush. Eight years ago, the media trumpeted George Bush as a really swell guy because he was good at working a room and had nicknames for everyone, and sniffed that Al Gore was boring, a total stiff. Well, time has shown that George is not swell, and Al is not a stiff, but the election really did swing on these caricatures.
Now
itís all Hillary and Barak for the Democrats. The Republican field is
more fluid, reflective of the crisis of identity the í06 elections
visited upon the GOP. McCain and Giuliani have been the early picks but
the press is backing away. Chuck Hagel, Mitt Romney and Sam Brownback
are the fresh faces catching the pressís eye now.
The press is
back to its gossiping as if it is serious analysis. Is Hillary too cold
and calculating, unelectable and a woman to boot. Barak is so-o-o
charismatic, but is he too inexperienced, and what about the black
factor? Can McCain win the conservative base of the party, and has he
lost the independents with his pro-Iraq surge stand? How can Giuliani,
an ex-New York City mayor, appeal to the Republican base in the South
and West? Romney looks great, but heís a Mormon. Hagelís star is on
the rise as a solid conservative who has been against the Iraq war all
along. Heís the ruggedly handsome war hero, new straight-shooter who
has come up with the best sound-bite zinger yet. To waffling senators:
ìIf you want a safe job, go sell shoes.î That got the punditsí
attention. Step aside McCain.
Among the
Democrats, there are some very serious high-quality candidates;
certainly some with far more experience than Hillary and Barak. Joe
Biden, Christopher Dodd, Bill Richardson and Tom Vilsak have great
presidential potential. Joe Biden is forcing attention from his
platform as the new Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee (and of
course that attention lately focused on an unfortunate phrasing about
Barak Obama taken out of context rather than Bidenís substance), but
Tom who? Bill who? Christopher who? See what I mean. These are all
smart, experienced politicos with real gravitas. And Dennis Kucinich
has some really important things to say, but is getting no coverage,
and ë04ís media darling, John Edwards, is again treated like a pretty
face not taken seriously. What about Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize nominee
and environmental guru? Al is, so far, not running because he doesnít
want to get swallowed by this slithery serpent again. When he says he
discovered that he wasnít a very good politician, heís talking about
his inability to fend off this sausage-making machine.
The press is
sniffing, looking for the pigeon holes they can slip the candidates
into, the easy clichÈs they can ride through the campaign.
There isnít much
that can be done about this misuse of the vast power invested in the
media in this election cycle. What is needed is major campaign reform
that brings total public financing and forbids attack ads while
compelling serious neutral media coverage of all candidates. But that
certainly isnít going to happen for this election. Itís up to the
voters to find out who the candidates really are and what they stand
for. The Internet helps and hurts. Candidates and their backers have
Web sites and the Internet, by its sheer volume and scope, brings
broader and fairer coverage, but also is an unregulated forum for lies
and distortions.
Donít let the
media narrow your choices by limiting your awareness to their glamour
picks and their shallow, catty coverage. Letís not play the mediaís
star-search game in picking our leader. Find out who you really like
and why you really like them, and then write letters to the editor,
blog, talk to your friends, campaign, do whatever to bring the people
back into picking their leader rather than being led by the nose by the
media.
ï
Bill Walz is a
UNC Asheville adjunct faculty member and a private practice teacher of
mindfulness, personal growth and consciousness. Contact at
bill.walz-at-worldnet.att.net or 258-3241.
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