Cable news corrupts campaign platforms

Dave Matthews Band. Jurassic 5. R.E.M. Even the Boss himself. These are just a few of the 19 artists and groups touring 36 cities to raise money for Democratic 527s. Conservatives have long railed against the political meanderings of celebrities, especially when those celebrities are meandering to the Left, and this election season offers them plenty to complain about. There are celebrities touring for politicians, politicians touring with celebrities, celebrities speaking like (and occasionally becoming) politicians and politicians trying like hell to be celebrities.

Frankly though, it is hard in a free country to fault citizens for speaking their minds on issues of concern to them, or even running for office when they have the opportunity to do so, and it is similarly hard to fault politicians for bringing stars to their aid when it is so demonstrably effective at getting attention, if not votes as well. That said, this phenomenon indicates just how strongly the politics of persona are reshaping the American electoral system.

Some would trace this trend back to Bill Clinton's saxophone-playing appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show. Some would trace it to Ronald Reagan's election as the first celebrity governor, 37 years before Ahh-nold pulled off the same trick. Some would trace it to 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower ran spots featuring jingle-singing cartoon characters -- or even to the political jingles that were the 19th Century predecessors to modern political ads.

It's true that, ever since George Washington, presidents have been larger-than-life figures. However, in that age it was still possible to have a serious national deliberation and debate through the news media. Just look at The Federalist Papers. But political discourse has been impoverished since the time of the Federalists in a way that has changed the way we choose our policies and politicians. I blame cable news.

Cable news is the first true 24-hour news medium, and the proliferation of these channels shortened the news cycle and in turn the attention span of the viewership. Whereas complicated policy analysis is possible in a 30-column-inch newspaper feature, it is not possible in a two-minute news package. Additionally, the shorter news cycle and intense competition force cable news (and other media as well) to focus on the sensational and superficial rather than the important and detailed.

Moreover, to a degree unlike any medium before it, cable relies on a narrative structure of conflict to sell its product. Just compare the confrontational but still mild-mannered Meet The Press with the shouting matches we call The O'Reilly Factor, Crossfire and Hardball. On that last program, Sen. Zell Miller recently challenged host Chris Matthews to a duel, and MSNBC is now airing that footage to promote the program.

This made-for-cable confrontational style has also dramatically affected the way the substance of the news is covered. News programs will mention that the candidates are in the same town on the same day, but little of what they actually say. They'll report one side's attacks on the other, but are slow to investigate the merit of their claims. Moreover, because political staff and other journalists closely follow cable news coverage, the way cable covers the news strongly influences the way other media outlets behave. Because of cable news, our journalistic diet is far too often more flash than substance.

So what troubles me is not that the paths of politicians and celebrities would cross, but that our modern media would care. More than ever before, politicians are judged not merely by the merit of their ideas, but by their personality -- their capability as celebrities. For example, following his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama has been termed a "rock star" by Cableland punditry. Inversely, one of the main knocks against John Kerry is that he's too stiff and senatorial -- i.e., not enough of a celebrity. This is despite the fact that only one of the two men has actually recorded a rock album, and it wasn't the Senate candidate from Illinois.

And forget Florida: the increased relative importance of personality and the ability of political persona to obscure political reality are the real reasons Gov. Bush won in 2000. As cultural critic John Powers has pointed out, the conventional wisdom was that Bush was dumb and Gore was smart but a self-aggrandizing liar. The reality of the matter, however, was the reverse. Bush ran the more intelligent campaign, as it took some cunning to convince the American public that the past eight years of peace and prosperity were actually a bad thing. It was also Bush who ran the more deceitful campaign, for "Love Story" aside, the Bush administration has been a far cry from the "compassionate conservatism" and "humble foreign policy" on which he campaigned.

So what's the solution? Listen. Read. Deliberate. The medium may be the message, but technology is not destiny. Ultimately, the fourth estate represents the public, so let us take responsibility for our emissaries in front of the camera and behind the printing press. Let us look at policy. Let us look at leadership. Let us look at things that matter. We might just wind up with better policies and better leaders as a result.

Kevin Collins is a junior Political Science major from Milwaukee. ...And Justice For All appears on Tuesdays.

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