By Pamela Sweetwood
Understandably forums are not to weigh in on candidates but can certainly discuss the process. I’ve done past forums on campaign financing, negative advertisements, and more.
This presidential election cycle is so different from the past. On Meet the Press last week, the panelists made it clear there was no point in making any predictions. So much is atypical. They mentioned this has been increasingly the case with elections but this year is a leap from the past. It is recreating the process.
I have enjoyed the extra coverage and developments. Today, September 14 I’d like to coin a new word to capture this phenomenon, poli-tainment. I’m not sure it’s catchy but something is needed to describe this evolution.
We are discovering a fine line between politics and entertainment. Where that line is continues to advance. We’ve had presidents on late night talk shows, reality shows and performing comedy. Historically appearance, charisma and the knack at speaking in sound bites has influenced elections. Some well-intentioned and very capable candidates have been overlooked.
I used to wonder why anyone would run for elected office with the scrutiny, criticism, non-stop schedule and fundraising demands. It’s disappointing when we have uncontested or lop-sided races.It’s amazing to have so many presidential candidates and curiously no one has dropped out despite funds or poll numbers. I like that. Just like the marketplace, competition provides citizens more choices. What happens in the early states has shown to be a bad predictor of who the final candidates will be.
The number of candidates sets-up a soap opera environment. Soap operas are not known for substance but do capture loyal fans. I’m banking that in time people will expect more. Some ideas being floated around now are baseless with scary implications. It may make for good TV but not reality. I’m counting on voting decisions based on politics rather than entertainment.
Pamela Sweetwood was an ISU student, like many, who never left town. She works in higher education and has a history with many community non-profits organizations.
The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumlus Media, Inc.
