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If Obama wins...
I have a question for you guys. Do you think that if Obama wins the
Presidency, assuming that he keeps running a clean campaign (even
during the general election), the "silly season" will end forever? I
know it may sound crazy, but if Obama wins the presidency by being the
"clean" candidate, it seems only natural that in the future the "silly
season" will be easier to identify and will turn off the electorate. We
may have an election during my lifetime that has every candidate
running a clean campaign. I wonder what that would be like... (I'd
rather get answers from people who agree that Obama has been running a
clean campaign...those who think that he hasn't are simply not going to
provide the answer to the question so save your self from answering; I
completely understand that whether Obama's campaign has been clean or
not is up for debate but that can be answered in a different post).
Comments (9)
No matter how clean a campaign is I think the silly season is probably not going anywhere anytime soon. From my perspective, it's basically a product of the way that the MSM "reports" on the campaigns. Until that changes, the soundbite will rule the day.
Picture this: Charlie Gibson asks both candidates to describe how they see the coming energy crisis and each candidate is allowed a full five minutes or better to expound on their view of these problems as well as to describe how their policy proposals will begin to address them without commercial interruption.
Hard to imagine? Yeah, I think so, too.
April 21, 2008 12:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure. I think it would depend on voters being very tuned into what was taking place and the media doing its job of keeping voters apprised of what is taking place. I think this election season is different because it has so many people engaged and there's a reaction when they sense unfairness. I.e.- the ABC debate, that surprised democrats, some republicans and some of the media.
April 21, 2008 12:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
When we get into the GE, I think Obama is going to have to play HARDBALL. The GOP is going to be really sleazy. I read that Obama is putting together a rapid response team for the GE to combat the dirt that he knows will come his way. The Swift Boaters are already raising money and circling the wagons for the GE. We all going to be completely disgusted before this is over. Hopefully, they will overplay their hand and McGrumpy will screw up.
April 21, 2008 2:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't expect,Limbaugh, Hannity etal to simply pack up their bags and go home. I would expect that that the first year of an Obama term is going to be incredibly difficult and that the corporate media will try to take him down or at least paralyze him.
I do think however that there is areal possibility for decided plurality in the presidetial election and a significant shift in congress. That would be tantamount to a landslide. If Obama can deliver in the first two years of his presidency and the American people kept engaged then yes I think things could change.
I don't think that simply a "clean" campaign will do it. There needs to proper disgust generated by the electorate.
If Obama could maintain his equanimity AND prosecute the most egregious offences of the last eight years AND end the war, then we could see some real change. I think this would extend through the entire culture.
April 21, 2008 2:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Elections have almost always had silly seasons. Just check out the ugly campaigns between Jefferson and Adams!
That said, I hope that we can push to get a decent number of legitimate discussions into the mix as well. Perhaps we could capitalize on everyone's disgust with ABC and convince the next interested network to do, instead of a debate, a discussion show similarly to how CNN held their Compassion Forum.
April 21, 2008 4:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for all of your answers. I think they all make sense, and I guess I'm just too much of an optimist...maybe even a dreamer. But I do believe that we are already beginning to see a change in the response of the electorate to the ridiculous shit that comes out. Like the debate for example.
April 21, 2008 9:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Depends on how bad we beat the Republicans in the fall and in 1010. If we really beat on them, I freakshow journalism could well be marginalized. It will never go away, but it could become a niche product catering to a crazed minority. Like FoxNews is now.
The problem is that you've got millionare pundits like Russert, Jake Tapper, and the Politico gang who truly believe that the freakshow is actual journalism. They are are genuinely puzzled and annoyed by all the people whining about issues. They think they are just left wing ideologues who want them to be more partisan instead of "objective" like they think they are now.
No, really. That's how they think.
So those guys aren't going anywhere and it will take years for them to absorb a new (actually, an old) way of thinking about journalism through osmosis.
On the other hand, if McCain wins, or if Obama wins a close one, the freakshow goes on and on with no end in sight.
April 21, 2008 11:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hope is not a four-letter word!
I think more people have been paying attention for longer, and as an electorate, that is better for everyone. People seem to overlook this fact now, but if Obama had not won Iowa, Team Clinton's feeling that this would all be over by February 5th might have come true. For all of the talk about how this race is tearing the party apart, I don't think we'd be in a better position because of it, and not just because HRC would be the nominee. Early in this campaign there were prominent politicians saying that the country wasn't ready for a black man to be President. We're talking 2007 and 2008! Hell, there were prominent African American civil rights "leaders" saying that. Whether or not "silly season" ever ends, and whether or not anyone buys into the ridiculous notion that an Obama Presidency will lead to some post-racial America, the significance of how far perception and thinking have come in just 15 months or so is unmistakable.
To answer your original question, though, I think it will get worse before it gets better. Lots of the people on the left and the right who have been saying "He's not ready. He needs more time in Washington," will still be doing everything they can to see themselves as vindicated by every misstep along the way. That goes for regular folks and the punditocracy and elected officials at all levels too. An Obama Presidency will be a new beginning, not an outright victory...
April 21, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
too many people thrive on dirty politics. hence the popularity of jerry springer, maury, et al. it appeals to the darker side of our nature as human beings. faith in human nature can be dangerous. i am surprised no one has called Obama a philatilist, numismatist, monotheist, or any of the other big words that mean nothing like elitist.
April 21, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
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