The Media and the Great Debates

My friends that are staunch supporters of the Democrat Party are in a sublime mood these days as the Republican debates have been a feeding frenzy between the candidates vying for the GOP nomination. It has suddenly become in vogue for those on the left to not miss a single Republican debate. They are glued to their TV sets with their bowls of carrot sticks and tofu enjoying the orgy of attacks prospective candidates are hurling at each other. The winner may be the last man standing, but I am no longer certain anyone will be left standing. 

It has always been amazing to me how anyone seeking public office would allow themselves and their families to be scrutinized so ruthlessly by the media, their competitors and even their friends. It is more amazing how any candidate would think he or she could hide the most minute detail of their private or public lives, or think these details might go unexposed during a campaign. 

One by one nearly every candidate has fallen victim to something he or she said or did or to a position taken in the past. Some candidates are being tormented for statements made over two decades ago, or they are being ridiculed for a change of their position. Most of us, as seemingly mature individuals, quite likely think differently about various issues at 60 years old than we did at 40. If we never changed our opinion about anything, we would be in the same job, living in the same location and be married to the same partner for the entirety of our lives. 

The three Republican candidates that have been the most consistent in their policies—Bachmann, Santorum and Paul—are all but scorned by the liberal media. These candidates firmly espouse the concept of having America return, in their view, to traditional or homespun values. In this cycle, the media has gorged by mocking fiscal conservancy, family values and less government leading one to wonder whether the remaining candidates or the other party want to steer America in the opposite direction? The world has changed and issues like gay unions or women’s choice are far down the list of American concerns compared to the national economy, unemployment or national security. A viable candidate must grasp the salient issues of our times. 

Ron Paul is a unique character and his lifelong Libertarian viewpoints have done well with a near religious following. However, most in the electorate do not want to follow his lead calling for the elimination of many government services especially if it would affect the voting recipient directly. Some call him a reactionary, while others call him a visionary. Enough voters took Ross Perot seriously as a visionary 20 years ago when he expressed his concern over the burgeoning national debt and our faltering ability to pay it. 

At the same time, Newt Gingrich is a brilliant loose cannon. He certainly has his share of self-inflicted baggage, but it seems his recent career as a lobbyist or consultant has garnered the most attention. Lobbying is a criminal act that has managed to become part of our corroding political landscape. Lobbyists get paid for their ability to influence Congressional legislation. Anyone in government who accepts campaign contributions from a lobbyist is as culpable as the lobbyist, and government agencies that employ lobbyists are clearly running afoul of their duties to the taxpayers.  

The media attention paid to Gingrich is almost comical. In 2008, Christopher Dodd, possibly the most corrupt and incompetent politician in modern times, ran for the presidency, and there was nary a mention by the media of his campaign contributions from lobbyists or his voting record that coincided with specific contributions. At the same time, the press seems to be blind to the process of earmarks or stimulus appropriations and how they were recycled into campaign contributions benefiting candidates from both parties.

Just as comical is the media onslaught of Mitt Romney as a vulture capitalist while John Corzine, former Democratic Senator and Governor of New Jersey, appears unmolested by the press after $1.2 billion has recently gone missing from his firm, MF Global.

At the moment the polls all indicate that Mitt Romney will be the likely Republican nominee. With that in mind, the New York Times coincidentally published two op-ed pieces last Friday, one by Paul Krugman, who presented his case about the pitfalls of having a businessman in the Oval Office. His view that government should not be run as a profitable enterprise has merit, but it should also not be run with an uncontrolled deficit that is rife with waste, duplicity and fraud.  David Brooks considered the New York Times conservative columnist only because he is slightly to the right of Krugman, weighed in that leadership and God were missing elements in our existing political system. But Brooks fell far short of associating these ideas to our current administration. 

If Romney becomes the nominee, I expect the subterranean Internet to start Mormon-bashing, distorting his successful business record and chastising his evolving positions about key issues. Businesspeople normally don’t vie for public office because the process is too invasive while a career politician deeply embedded into our political system routinely manages to deflect any questionable behavior. This election will hinge on the electorate’s choice of which candidate is more competent - but the media’s spin will opine upon which candidate is or has been less corrupt. That media sway will also have influence over many voters.  

The GOP is still deeply embedded in the process, Jon Huntsman has recently thrown in the towel while Rick Perry seems to be gasping for air. During the debates, all the Republican candidates at various moments have walked or talked themselves into a virtual verbal cul-de-sac which will be fodder for the media once the real contest begins. Coincidentally, a good friend just proposed a $10,000 bet about the possibility of an undeclared candidate becoming the final Republican nominee.

 

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Tags: Entertaining debates, The Republican Candidates