The Price of Politics
I recently read a news story about the record-breaking $500 million in political ads spent in California alone in this year's elections in the U.S. In addition to the horror I feel about the fact that such a huge sum is wasted on political lies and mudslinging, I am actually kind of ecstatic that I got to miss the bombardment this time around.
Spain just held the regional elections for Catalonia, which received a lot of press, since it's the first time since the passage of a referendum earlier this year that expanded the Statute of Autonomy of 1979. I had a few fleeting days of delusion that Spain did not allow political advertising due to the fact that I did not see any television or print ads for this election. Unfortunately, my students assured me yesterday that when there are national elections, they too are bombarded with political ads :( Oh, well. The price of freedom, I guess.
I really wonder if the U.S. can ever really get away from the sound-bite approach to political positioning. And, if we did, would anyone have the time to actually dig in to read the long form on the candidates anyway? I know, some already do, but percentage-wise, I would bet it's a pretty small group. At least I feel like the blogging phenomenon has shifted the balance of power in the information game. Let's hope the trend toward more, varied information continues.
I recently read a news story about the record-breaking $500 million in political ads spent in California alone in this year's elections in the U.S. In addition to the horror I feel about the fact that such a huge sum is wasted on political lies and mudslinging, I am actually kind of ecstatic that I got to miss the bombardment this time around.
Spain just held the regional elections for Catalonia, which received a lot of press, since it's the first time since the passage of a referendum earlier this year that expanded the Statute of Autonomy of 1979. I had a few fleeting days of delusion that Spain did not allow political advertising due to the fact that I did not see any television or print ads for this election. Unfortunately, my students assured me yesterday that when there are national elections, they too are bombarded with political ads :( Oh, well. The price of freedom, I guess.
I really wonder if the U.S. can ever really get away from the sound-bite approach to political positioning. And, if we did, would anyone have the time to actually dig in to read the long form on the candidates anyway? I know, some already do, but percentage-wise, I would bet it's a pretty small group. At least I feel like the blogging phenomenon has shifted the balance of power in the information game. Let's hope the trend toward more, varied information continues.
posted by Chromest*r at 2:07 PM
2 Comments:
Interesting read along similar lines:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12055360/cover_story_time_to_go_inside_the_worst_congress_ever
Just in case the link gets cut off:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politic
s/story/12055360/cover_story_time_t
o_go_inside_the_worst_congress_ever
By election day, I was wishing I had saved all the political direct mail I had received, instead of throwing it into the trash barrel by our mailboxes each and every day. Our mail box was stuffed so full - every day for weeks - that all our mail was bent and folded and wrinkled every day. Some days, I turned the key and opened the mailbox door and the flyers and pamphlets literally exploded out onto the floor. I've never seen so much political mail. It was ridiculous! What's my point? Nothing. I just needed to vent.
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