If you're like me you've watched the last week or so of the presidential campaign with some degree of anxiety. We're definitely getting an early preview of the kind of things Obama will face in the general election, which definitely boils down to greatest hits from the Karl Rove book:
- Questioning his patriotism, through cultural markers (lapel pin)
- Questioning his status as a “real American” (the “elitist”)
- Questioning his status as a Christian (The “Muslim” lie)
… and so forth. Now, I would reckon that most of us here would vastly prefer that the campaign focus on issues, since we know that Obama (or Hillary) is vastly preferable on Iraq, health care, the economy, global warming, and so on and so forth. We know we can win a fair fight.
But we are kidding ourselves if we imagine that the media will pay adequate attention to real issues, as opposed to all the stupid stuff that basically writes itself.
Well, that's where we come in. Many media players will not act honorably or well of their own accord. There will be several times over the course of the campaign which will genuinely require all hands on deck, to email, call, and write media outlets and their sponsors, to ensure fair coverage. It will not be enough to simply be outraged, to have the right opinions, in case someone asks; it will be our duty to actively shepherd the public debate to things that matter, towards a fair debate, towards a discussion that looks beyond November 2008 to January 2009, i.e. actual governance. Again, if the debate focuses on governance — as it must, I think we win. But we've got to insist on it. We may have had a small victory in affecting the aftermath of Wednesday's ABC debate disaster; we should continue to set the tone and expectations for the public discussion.
At Saturday's blog-event, our host Chris (Mr. Lynne) made the point that much of our activism can be accomplished without new tools. Email is tremendously valuable; our contacts and relationships are valuable. Think about how far and wide the Obama-Muslim lie traveled; and think about how far the truth can go if bother to send it.
It's not just about the candidate — maybe not even primarily about the candidate. It's about what's a fair fight.
laurel says
he needs to get a cross ‘n flag tat. simple as that. it proves he’s patriotical, christianist and not above it all (at least while he was inder the needle).
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p>it’s too late for him to get it on a more discrete spot like the biceps. at this point he’d be well advised to get it on his left pec or even the upper quadrant of his back. don’t forget “God Bless America” and “Jesus is Lord” on the ribbons flowing from the flag pole.
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p>And finally, it couldn’t hurt to place another tattoo on a forearm that says “Mother”, but is placed in a way to make it look like “fucker” had been on the trailing end previously but then removed. That would provide some back cred.
laurel says
What can the average person do to see that the Dem-gop debates are conducted by quality moderators? Who decides on/agrees to the venues? Once there is a nominee, is it the candidate or the party that arranges these things?
johnt001 says
…ran the debates and chose the venues and moderators. I don’t know why that stopped, anyone else?
amberpaw says
Our local league, of which I am a member and former board member, still does Candidate’s Nights, locally. Did the League once do national “debates” – really what the League does is more of a forum then a debate.
lolorb says
You’re right about it not being about the candidates, or even about this race. I swear you were channeling some of my thoughts as I was writing my post on Saturday’s event. I was thinking about how very important volunteers are, and you make a good point that activism may be the only effective method for combating the media.
nopolitician says
Yesterday, one of the conservative talkshow hosts (Limbaugh, I think) was telling everyone that Hamas endorsed Obama. He played a clip from Ahmed Yousef, a member of Hamas, who said that Obama is like Kennedy, a man with great principles.
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p>Sadly, a lot of people will fall for this kind of crap.