I don't suppose too many of us are surprised by the results of yesterday's elections. As a Democrat, I am deflated today, but I am certainly not shocked. I'm sure the media pundits will all be feeding off the carcass of this election cycle for weeks, pretending to understand what it all means. I personally know better than to presume that I know what it means, and I will refrain from analyzing the mood of the electorate or predicting the future of the nation based on these results.
What I do know is what went wrong in terms of the election process as a whole. It seems we've outgrown the "business as usual" template for political campaigning and reporting. I really do think the way we've gone about things is old, tired and in sore need of some serious upgrading. In the spirit of bi-partisanship, let me offer some ideas with which both the left and the right may agree.
The reality of the situation is this: even with all the available coverage of political candidates and campaigns, voters still manage to remain unaware and uninformed in so many ways. In fact, it could be argued that this lack of awareness is a direct result of the overwhelming amount of available information out there today. If you're someone who leans right, there are cable channels, newspapers and websites which will present "news" from your perspective, and nothing but. The same holds true for those who lean left. It's pretty clear that most voters tend to seek out their own particular safe havens, and dwell there without venturing beyond them. This severely limits the information and viewpoints that they are exposed to, and at the end of the day, no matter how much time people spend reading and viewing, nobody learns anything.
There's also the (very large) segment of the population who has simply switched off altogether. They are sick of the hype and disgusted by the system, and have decided that they'd rather not participate in the process at all. They have no respect for any politician or party, and no motivation to become involved.
For both the ideologically rigid and the politically apathetic, there are certain truths that apply. I think the media, both parties and all politicians need to accept these truths now, and learn a lesson or two about how to better handle the campaign and election process next time around. In that spirit, here are the real lessons of Election 2010:
NO MORE DEBATES. The debates I watched over the past several weeks were complete wastes of time. On the local and state levels, I saw nothing that even approached a healthy exchange of ideas and opinions. Candidates no longer answer the question, regardless of what question is being asked. The debate process has degenerated into a platform for extended political ads, in which talking points are endlessly regurgitated and digs at the opposing candidate(s) are volleyed at regular intervals. If these political wanna-bes can't even handle giving a straight answer in a debate, we cannot hope to get straight answers from them once they are elected.
NO MORE POLITICAL ADS. When an ad comes on the television, who is actually paying attention? When a flyer appears in the mailbox, who is actually reading it? Even if some people do see them, how many change their minds or find new points of view to consider as a result? I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of political advertising, both broadcast and print, is completely ineffective at this point in time. There are some ads which have attracted attention for their sheer nuttiness/entertainment value (demon sheep? "I am not a witch"?), but I would bet my house on the fact that no one who cares enough to vote is using the ads as a source of information on which to base their decisions. The amount of money spent on advertising is insane, and a waste of epic proportions.
NO MORE ROBOCALLS. One of the worst ideas ever in the history of politics. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine that anyone does anything other than screen their calls or hang up once the robocalls start coming in. Again, a waste of time and money.
NO MORE POLLS IN THE NEWS. If politicians want to do internal polling to let them know what campaign strategies are working and which are not, that's fine. But when the polls are the focus of every news report for months, it hinders the democratic process. I can tell you that, here in my home state of Florida, there were so many people who "knew", months ago, that the Democratic candidate for Senate, Kendrick Meek, had no chance to win and should just drop out, because the polls told them so. Similarly, when I did some "Get Out The Vote" work for the Dems, I saw incredible numbers of people who felt there was no point voting for the incumbent Congressman from my district, Democrat Ron Klein, because the polls showed his GOP opponent to be leading by a sizable margin. These polls depress voter enthusiasm and turnout by convincing people that the results are already a forgone conclusion, long before the election even takes place. Additionally, they are notoriously flawed and can be affected by many different factors. To feature them as gospel on so many news networks and websites is irresponsible journalism. News outlets may as well use a Magic 8 Ball or an Ouija board as a source.
NO MORE MEDIA COVERAGE OF INSIGNIFICANT CANDIDATES. There was a ludicrous amount of press on Delaware's Christine O'Donnell during this election cycle. This, despite the fact that she was never seriously expected to win, no matter whose side you were on. She, and other kooky, long-shot candidates, ate up a ton of media time, distracted a huge chunk of the voting public from more important topics, and further solidified the idea that our government is a circus rather than a functioning body of public servants.
With such over-saturation of the political landscape, is it any wonder that American voters are either completely polarized or completely indifferent? The current means of campaigning and of covering elections has jumped the shark. Unless things change, I know that, by the time this nation is asked to vote again, it will have been beaten senseless by the mind-numbing barrage of ads and media coverage that it has had to endure, just as it was this time. And most of those who have endured it will either remain unswayed by the hue and cry, voting the party line blindly, or will ignore it all and choose not to choose. That is certainly not the best way to elect our leaders. The system needs to be radically revamped, and soon, so that we may find a way back to meaningful debate, dialogue and democracy before we are asked to head to the polls again.
0 comments:
Post a Comment