Much like Mr. Benen, I have to concur, that in a practical sense there is a certain veracity to this statement. By and large the electorate is relatively uninformed on most policy and issues being discussed. So judgments are formed on far more superficial basis.Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning.
"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."
If nothing else this shows the state we are in. Even when things are going horribly wrong, the inability to admit errors still drags people down. Yet the electorate still hasn't figured out, that this is what the Republican party does. As a party they will smear, obfuscate and dissemble anything to hide issues and use tribal politics (us against them) to when. They have done a horrible job as stewards of the country. Yet they will do everything they can to argue that they still are the best hope for change. Remember that when you wonder where we have gone wrong, and when you are told how scary the other is and how they don't have any plans or solutions.
-cheers
5 comments:
I believe that is how politics has always been. It seems that politicians will say anything they can at any given time to get as many votes as possible. The consensus is that a majority of the voters, which is a vast minority of American citizens (worthy of its own blog topic), catch one political speech/debate (maybe) and therefore can feel confident that these voters will not be aware if he/she is in contradiction to his/her real presidential plans. Just tell whatever demographic is most likely listening what they want to hear and that demographic will make their decision on that one-time only information. In addition, a significant number of voters know whom (what party) they are voting for before the candidates have even been picked! It is no more than a national "senior class president" election.
A drastic aside to this topic is that this country can either hope for a great leader (as we do now) or start treating the position of presidency (and the cabinet) much more seriously. I propose that we should not vote for just the president and their ideas but for the president and his/her entire cabinet. Specifically, if one desires to be president, he/she must assemble a team of individuals that make up the vice-president and the entire cabinet no less than 6 months (but preferably longer) before the election. This way, national issues are answered by an expert in that field, not a politician willing to say anything to become president. I realize that this would require a tremendous amount of planning on each presidential candidate but it should. He/she will have to work with these 20 people to successfully enact the changes he/she desires. The United States of America is a hard country to run and it takes a lot of people to run it well. It only makes sense that we should start voting on a team of individuals not just one.
That is my piece. Sorry for the rant.
No apologies needed. There is actually some merit there. I have heard it bandied around that during the primary the main contenders should have a VP pick already. It should be decided then. To your other point I would very much like it if we got to see what the cabinets of the various contenders look like.
Ok, so if we're thinking it why aren't they thinking it? ... and doing something about it?
It depends on the "they" you are talking about is. Most of the public barely cares who the president is...let alone what they are responsible for.
Can someone get me Brad's email address??
mike.cation@gmail.com, Brad.
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