nobody can deny that the presidential election has taken an increasingly negative tone the last few weeks. while i’m not one for pointing fingers, i doubt there are many people who would deny that the mccain campaign “started it,” for lack of a better term. i find it unfortunate that the obama campaign is following suit, but i find it even more unfortunate that for obama to win, he must enter into this kind of campaign. this “politics of fear,” “karl rove tactics,” “swift-boating,” or whatever you want to call it… obviously works. americans, for the most part are just not motivated enough to learn the truth on their own and instead opt for trusting whatever the television tells them. al gore (regardless of what you feel about him) hits the nail on the head with this quote from his book “the assault on reason”;
“In the world of television, the massive flows of information are largely in only one direction, which makes it virtually impossible for individuals to take part in what passes for a national conversation. Individuals receive, but they cannot send. They hear, but they do not speak. The “well-informed citizenry” is in danger of becoming the ‘well-amused audience.’”
politics have become entertainment. and it’s not the fault of any one entity, be it the media or a certain campaign or the american people. it’s a combination of all of them. the brutal truth is that americans love drama, politicians know it, and the media covers it because it’s what the american people are buying. like it, love it, or hate it… these politicians and strategists are incredibly smart, and are only giving the american people what they want. how else can we explain our ridiculous addiction to “entertainment news.” how do we explain being glued to the tv to hear about what’s happening to britney, paris, nicole, lindsey, kfed, or any other first-name only celebrity that i don’t even have to mention the last name because you all know who i’m talking about already.
i’m holding my positions a little closer to the vest these days. i’m more inclined to describe myself as an independent than ever before. i have my choice for the presidential election, but it’s not because of a “lesser of two evils” approach that i think is just a cynical response to the process. not that i blame people for it, politics can be tiring. i’m getting tired of them, and i’m about as passionate about the process as someone not actually “in” politics can be. but i have come to my choice, as humbly as i can put it, from an intelligent and honest inquiry into both campaigns. i am an “informed” citizen that makes the time to pay attention to both sides.
i’ve drifted from my point.
the point here, is that over the last few days, i’m starting to see a backlash against the negativity. most of it has been directed at mccain. now i know the mccain supporters our there will come out in droves and say things like “see! the media loves obama!” but the fact is that it’s true. up until friday, obama had for the most part, stayed out of the negative television ad game. there was no made-up fantasies about lipstick-insults, there was no gross distortion of a child sex safety law, there was very little that wasn’t policy-based coming from camp obama. granted, some of those policy-based ads were misleading, but none of them dealt with character or personality attacks.
now the unfortunate part, is this backlash is starting just as obama is starting to get “his hands dirty,” so to speak. yesterday the obama camp released an ad that played off mccain’s age, insulting his ability to use email or the internet. it was lame, and while not uncalled for (in the sense of to win, you must go dirty), it was in bad taste.
i am not a political strategist by any means. i’m sure all of those are in obama’s ear telling him he must go negative if he wants to win in november. i’m sure they’re in his ear telling him that he just has to stomach it, because getting in the whitehouse is worth it.
if i had the opportunity to have a conversation with barack obama however, i would tell him nothing is worth selling yourself short. nothing is worth lowering yourself to the worst in people. i would tell him that he is better than this. i would tell him that the american people need someone to rise above this, to show us that it’s possible to be the bigger man and actually get rewarded for it. we need someone to be the “nice guy” and finish first.
unfortunately, i would also tell him that he’ll probably lose.
americans are just too addicted to glorified character “snuff” films. if it bleeds, it leads… and that is, sad to say, not the media’s fault.
it’s ours.
