of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy . . .
cities will never have rest from their evils . . . .
–Plato
I listened to the Democratic candidates for President debate each other on CNN Sunday night. Suffice it to say none of them have the “spirit and power of philosophy,” as Plato phrased it.
They spent a good portion of their precious on-air time imprecating President Bush. You’d think they were running against him. They spent the rest of their time trying to differentiate themselves from each other — unsuccessfully, for the most part. There are some subtle differences, but they’re largely indistinguishable.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the Republican debate on Tuesday will be no better.
It’s too bad there aren’t more confidence-inspiring candidates out there today. But my guess is that those best-qualified to be President just aren’t electable in a country that elevates image over depth, witty retorts over reasoned dialogue, and one-dimensional sound-bytes over nuanced policy discussions.
I suppose it’s always been that way to some extent, but it’s worse than ever now. Consider the fact that a candidate can get knocked out of the race by simply shouting “Yeeaah” on camera. There were lots of reasons not to vote for Howard Dean, but showing exuberance at a political rally wasn’t one of them.
CJ:
email me privately–I have some possible good news for you on this front. FYEO.
Good observation – and as long as there is little to distinguish between the candidates on policy issues – the more the media will focus on the external factors (age, race, sex) — none of which is particularly relevant in choosing a candidate to lead our country.
“those best-qualified to be President just aren’t electable in a country that elevates image over depth, witty retorts over reasoned dialogue, and one-dimensional sound-bytes over nuanced policy discussions…” Gee. How did Bush ever get elected? CJ is correct, however it is early in the game. It is a shame that the DEMS couldn’t just pool their power [Clinton/Obama ticket?].
How did Bush get elected? Because his opponents were Al Gore and John Kerry.
Well, Al Gore beat in votes.
Do you mean Al ‘I won the popular vote, but what the hell happened in Florida’ Gore? How many Reps today wish they hadn’t voted for Bush? By the way, is Ray jumping ship because he knows the next pres will be a Democrat?
PS: Who is John Kerry?
Yep That Gore! He did win the popular vote but hey what the heck, Bush has shown us how great he has been.
I am no fan of the establishment media, which certainly elevates style over substance, but I don’t think that’s really as recent a development as it seems. The truth is, it’s always been hard to elect an honest, thinking candidate. Teddy Roosevelt made it by accident. The sorry lot you see running today is not surprising if you allow just 2 political parties to pick from a group of self-appointed national saviors. That is not the way the founders envisioned the Presidential race.
Peoria Anti-Pundit: You might be interested to learn that, per the U.S. Constitution, presidents aren’t elected by popular vote. Click here for more information.
😉
Yep… the votes you cast ‘for President and Veep’ in Illinois are really for a slate of Electors. Indeed there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that requires that Electors be chosen by popular vote. Your state legislature could just choose them or even override the choices on election day. That isn’t very clear when people go to the polling booth tho. They all think they are voting for a President.
Court case anyone? Shouldn’t ballots be clear what it is you are voting for?
Mahkno is generally correct, but for the legislature to “override” the election would require an after-the-fact statutory change that would probably be declared unconstitutional by virtue of it being after-the-fact.