Newspapers focus on missteps, gaffes and college papers written 20 years ago, and then complain that voters don’t get serious about issues.
It’s like an arsonist complaining that all the old houses have been burning down.
The Virginian-Pilot editorial board cites the right problem – “most voters don’t even bother asking candidates for their positions” – but the wrong cause – Deeds and McDonnell on transportation.
Watch this video.
Health Care
Obama responded with an ad saying the Clinton plan “forces everyone to buy insurance even if you can’t afford it. And you pay a penalty if you don’t.”
Fast-forward to Obama’s speech last week “That’s why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance.” And AP reports that “Americans who fail to sign up for a medical plan after health care overhaul takes effect could be hit with fines of up to $3,800”
Why would voters bother to ask candidates about issues when so much evidence exists that what they say before election day doesn’t matter?
And newspaper editorial boards rarely seem to care about broken campaign pledges if they agree with the result. They call it “growing in office” and the “reality of governing.”
Normal folks, and not just ones representing South Carolina, call that LYING.
MR. KAINE: I will veto any tax increase that is sent to me from the General Assembly unless the Transportation Trust Fund is locked up.
That’s from a gubernatorial debate. Governor Kaine lost his veto pen when he proposed his own 1.1 billion dollar tax increase for the still-unprotected fund.
Mark Warner “I will not raise your taxes.”
If newspapers wonders why citizens are pretty much tired of asking politicians questions, it’s because they realize that so many of the answers are disposable after Election Day, with the press applauding the bait and switch all the way.
It’s because they laugh at the press’ fixation on stupid “gotchas” repeated day after day after day in silly repetitive stories. Ever notice how they stretch the same story out over weeks, letting out one “update” and “development” at a time, giving them the excuse to repeat the whole story over and over again? And they call that “news” – what’s new about it?
Perhaps if newspapers ended their enabling behavior of excusing broken campaign promises so cavalierly, more citizens would be interested in asking the questions the press wants asked.
