Issues & Polling
What detailed plan does John Kerry have on the issue of health care? What are Howard Dean’s thoughts on immigration? How do John Edwards and Wesley Clark approach homeland security differently? What design does Dennis Kucinich have for solving the problems in public education? What strategy does Al Sharpton have for improving relations with North Korea? What approach does Joseph Lieberman suggest in balancing the budget?
All of these questions are valid and fair, right? But unless you are deeply involved in the campaign for one of these candidates, you probably don’t know all of these answers. I have made every attempt to keep up with the democratic primary process; watched the debates, read various newspapers, and visited countless websites, all to gain an understanding of the candidates and the issues. Still, I am left wanting.
I was hoping that I could rely on the media for in-depth coverage of the candidates and the issues. Instead, I have heard it reported more than once that all the candidates pretty much believe in the same thing. With the issues so easily pushed aside, the bulk of the media directs it’s attention towards polls and personality.
I’ll accept that reports on polling and personality have their place in the media in covering the political process, but that place is certainly not on page one or as the lead news story of the day. The media’s fascination with polls has often seeped into the debates, where questions about the “horse race” receive as much attention and validity as the real issues do.
I fear that the media coverage of the Democratic presidential primaries is a sign of what’s to come in the presidential general election. One only has to look at the last presidential election to see what kind of results we receive when the coverage of the issues takes a backseat to polling and personality.