The triumph of image
A true word indeed. From the Daily Camera
The triumph of image
Election 2004: 'Electability' will trump substance
October 21, 2003
In a better world, presidential candidates — and their chances of election — would not be measured by their stature, "electability," money or military service.
Instead, they'd be measured by the their ideas, and their abilities to carry out those ideas.
Looking at the 2004 presidential election it doesn't look as though the world is going to change much.
President Bush already has hauled in more than $100 million for his campaign, and that's all some analysts need to know to pronounce him the inevitable winner.
Meanwhile, the nine Democratic hopefuls spend much of their time posturing. Through the media, we learn that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is "too short" to be elected. Gen. Wesley Clark is credible simply because he is a soldier. But the "credible" candidates aren't talking boldly about some important issues.
Case in point: A new ABC-Washington Post poll finds that 54 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the overall quality of U.S. health care; 62 percent prefer the idea of a universal, government controlled insurance plan. Why? Because under the current private insurance system, costs are rising, businesses are shifting more of the burden to employees, and Medicare is heading for crisis.
Yet "credible" candidates are too busy polishing an image to care much. In fact, only U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio advocates the kind of system that nearly two-thirds of Americans prefer. And he's already been pronounced "unelectable."
Maybe so. No, probably so. But that says more about our obsession with image than it does about Kucinich.
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