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first off, I hope this is the right place for this topic...
while the media much-hyped statistic of voter apathy here in the states seems to indicate that there's a large population of disaffected voters out there, most of whom don't seem to have much faith in the government according to said media, it seems ominous to me that that very media gleefully carries political adverts that never mention the party affiliation of political canidates, which inevitably corresponds with a lack of distinction between the political spectrum.
In other words, the lack of clearly defined party affiliations in election, and the bi-partisan politics so often reported during national crisii(?)/ crisises(?) is what creates an atmosphere of voter apathy... even more to the point, the party system itself is corrupt, in that no one person has the responsibility for the views of the party as a whole, but rather special interest movements create their own figureheads within a party framework, and these special interests create their own little civil coups within either given party, which ride herd for a while over the agenda of the party. This further disaffects potential voters, those young, and purportedly the largest non-voting bloc, who have yet to understand the historical and institutional framework of the two-party system
from the above assumptions, I'd also assume that the so-called "nader factor" didn't take votes from the democrats (thus costing Gore the race), but actually enticed people into voting who would not otherwise have voted. Third and fourth parties, such as they are, have, at least in recent history, arisen as a reaction to a specific set of issues that are either ignored by either of the two primary parties, or which have other special interests currently overriding a given parties current platform; in response to a voting bloc that cares only about one specific issue.
but the success of a third party canidate lies almost soley in their defining themselves as seperate (and then being seen as seperate) from either of the main two parties... for this to be successful there has to be a higher level of novelty, specifically in the third party canidates message. Something that sets that canidate appart from the other politicians, especially in the mind of the non-voting bloc. I wonder if this isn't the case with Gov. Ventura, who had created a mystique within the minds of potential voters all throughout his wrestling years that he was able to capitalize on throughout his campaign.
so what is the role of media in a political campaign? apparently it is to obscure, to homogenize, and to distort. Even more so, when both sides participate in reactionary ad campaigns, granted some voter attention is generated, the same attention generated by a public execution, or a grouping of police cars on the side of the road, or any of a million other spectacles, but it does nothing to appease voter apathy, and as such does not generate a new voting base.
nor does it help that the only apparent issues in local races are about prescription drugs and social security. What would generate interest among eighteen to thirty individuals would be more along the lines of free college education, yes or no? Free medical insurance, yes or no? Curing of std's, space tourism, public transportation, and international exchange programs funded by the state department to increase multicultural awareness... Or cutting taxes in truth, in visible ways, on the paychecks where people can see them... in real, exciting, media-friendly viable debates
And it also needs to happen on a social level, bars and gas stations and resturaunts and supermarkets pass out political information and voter registration sheets, to increase awareness of all areas of the upcoming ballots for each election, and in formats user-friendly and easily acceptable. otherwise, we confine ourselves to a kind of retiree-aucracy in the ballott box, elderly so muddled by the cognitive dissonance of the media outlets that they cannot break the current dead-lock of moderate institutionalism that has enabled this current corrupt corporate republic (here in the states) to manifest.
o'course, it's not like I went to school for this or anything |
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