Campaign '96. Presidential elections, fanfare, the year of the American electorate. Once again, Joe Bloe will pick a candidate and then smartly tell his friends that he picked the "lesser of two evils." Dissatisfied with politics, he'll wonder out loud why the choice always seems to between bad and worse. Then he'll go home and have a beer, or maybe not, before slumping down in front of the television to catch up on the four hours of watching the boob-tube the average American does each day.
One thing Joe might not think about, while watching the Giants' field goal attempt to tie the game, is what his role is in all this.
Politics and elections are tainted by numerous acts of politicking. Actions by those in office (and those running for office) are done not for practical purposes, but to please the electorate.
The grand prize for politicking in 1996, (the envelope please ... ), goes to William Jefferson Clinton for his handling of the gas "crisis." The first thing to know about the gas crisis is that it wasn't a crisis. Prices went up by a few cents, but there were no shortages and no lines as there were in the seventies. But the fact that there was no actual gas crisis didn't stop Clinton from boldly stepping in and "flooding" the market with 12 million gallons of government oil reserves. Did Joe Bloe think that would help? The United States consumes 18 million gallons of gas every day. Releasing less than a day's worth of oil can not be considered a flooding of the market, and surely it can not make a difference. Clinton knew this. Did you?
There is one reason politicking happens, one reason voters are manipulated and often deceived. It is easy to do. Americans are content to live in a democracy and proud of their constitutional rights. But not many of them consider the burden of living in a democracy. They are uninformed and apathetic.
An effective electorate needs to be an informed electorate. Joe Bloe would have to read papers instead of watching baseball games. And often he'd have to look beyond the headlines. He'd have to make an effort to find out his representatives' voting records and know where they stand. That's hard work. Such things take time.
Many Americans are willing to criticize the current state of politics. But are they willing to sacrifice their TV time or sleep time or golf time to keep abreast of current events? Average Americans like Joe Bloe certainly aren't. Are you?
The media, the eyes of the American public, could help. Newspapers and network news should focus on facts that matter to Americans, but unfortunately they rarely do. As James Fallows points out in his excellent book, "Breaking the News," the media focuses too much on political strategy and views the political arena as a game with competing players. Instead, it should focus on the whats and whys of news to give people usable, real information. When the media fails to do this, it undermines democracy, as Fallows concludes.
But let us not forget that television, newspapers and radio are for-profit organizations. They cater to what people want. And our representatives are still elected by popular votes. The beauty of a democracy and capitalism is that people can bring forth real change if they demand better. If Americans suddenly decide to take a real interest in their own future, they can stop whining about bad politicians and kick them out of office. But that will not happen anytime soon. Living in a democracy is easier said than done. Apathy is effortless.
