Stumped by Stumping
Flush with their convention Kool-aid, Obama and Biden have "hit the campaign trail" towards November.
I don't get it. With all the excellent means of communication we have, everyone knows or should know what the candidates stand for. Is it really necessary for them to wade out among the masses, pressing the flesh and making public appearances like high-falutin door-to-door salesmen?
This is the 21st century, right?
Does anyone really decide to vote for a candidate because they happened to sit in the same hall where the candidate spoke, or actually shook the guy's hand?
I wonder if there are statistics that show roughly what percentage of votes a candidate gets based on these appearances, versus what is known about the candidate through information widely available through newspapers/magazines/tv/radio/debates/websites/whatever.
It just seems like an huge waste of time and money to me, and it makes all candidates look and act more like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears than the statesmen they're supposed to be.
Comments
I bet there really is something to seeing a candidate live. Perhaps you get some sense of the man/woman that you wouldn't otherwise see.
I honestly don't know, I can't recall ever seeing a candidate for national office in the flesh.
Posted by: Kvatch | August 30, 2008 04:44 PM
Neither have I, Kvatch. And I'll bet a very tiny percentage of voters in any given presidential election haven't seen the candidates in the flesh, either. That's one of the reasons I have to wonder why so much time, money, and energy is put into these cross-country marathons.
Posted by: abi | August 31, 2008 02:28 PM
As a matter of fact, my mom and sister met Bill Clinton at a hotel in Boston in 92. They were going to vote for Tsongas, but were so charmed by Bill that they changed their minds on the spot.
I think it's necessary for them to get into the battleground states and do battle, and I only regret that neither of them needs to bother visiting my little state.
I think I went to a McGovern rally when I was very young, and that's the last time I recall a major candidate visiting us for anything other than fund-raising.
That would change, of course, if we'd only dump the preposterous electoral college, but I don't suppose that'll happen in my lifetime.
Posted by: NYC Educator | September 1, 2008 09:26 AM
Couldn't agree more that the electoral college has got to go. I'd bet even the Founding Fathers would be shocked that we're still using it in this day and age.
1992 in a Boston hotel, eh? I'll bet that was when the Clintons' almost got clobbered with that 60 Minutes stage light.
Posted by: abi | September 1, 2008 09:25 PM