Gored

I really must get over myself with these corny titles…

Anyhoo, most of my pre-chemo reading this evening has been on the un-candidacy of Al Gore. It started with a reference to the Time piece, and concluded with a piece from Politico.com.

Here’s a little piece of the Politico.com article:

Other Democrats note that Gore’s message, with its stinging indictment of both American politics and elements of American culture, isn’t crafted to win votes…

Gore is particularly hard on Americans’ television habit.

“The ‘well-informed citizenry’ is in danger of becoming the ‘well-amused audience,'” he writes.

Maybe my blood’s been pooling in my ass from all the sitting around I’ve been doing, but that alleged comment by Gore makes me more likely to vote for him (assuming he decided to run)… not less. It’s not that I have anything in particular against TV. Heck, I just spent a good portion of my day parked in front of the boob-tube myself. To take Gore’s comment to the next logical step: I think it’s a real indictment of our society when more folks can name the contestants on American Idol than, say: our Secretary of State… let alone what the Secretary of State DOES. (I’ll give you a hint: SHE deals with other countries so your President doesn’t have to.)

Earlier today I was lamenting our tendency to elect charisma over substance, and I feel television is partly to blame (like you didn’t already think of that one). The problem is, I don’t know how we can fix it (like I’m alone on that score). How do we even the playing field so the guy with the most money, or the slickest ads doesn’t always win? It’s not like there aren’t other avenues to get to know a candidate. There are the debates, candidate web sites, and the Sunday morning news shows to name but a few. But those things have been around for a while. We need something that will get to those 50-60 percent that don’t vote. We need to engage their mind, rev up their conscience, and get them involved.

I know… maybe American Idol should host the next debates.