Spring Break
OP-ED: Polls and poverty tours take the lead
by Nelson Rutrick
Op-Ed | 10/9/07
Posted online at 9:47 PM EST on 10/8/07
/ Last updated at 2:48 AM EST on 10/8/07
Brandeis students often wonder how anyone could watch something as boring as presidential politics. If they knew that Barack Obama's new campaign slogan was "It's time for a different B.O. in the White House!" they wouldn't think politics was so monotonous.
Fine, I admit it-this isn't his new campaign slogan. Even in jokes thrown around by late-night comedians, however, one can learn a great deal about presidential candidates and campaigns.
"John Edwards is on the campaign trail. He's now doing something called his 'Poverty Tour' where he's visiting people who have no money and no hope. In fact, his first stop today: John McCain's headquarters," Jay Leno astutely stated last July.
Believe it or not, you can learn about politics even before 11 p.m. rolls around and Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart are telling you the news with their own bias. You can turn on your television and cycle through channels until you find a candidate speaking on one of the major networks, and by listening to just a few sentences, you're going to realize something interesting. The candidate you are watching is repeating the same words over and over, and he is doing it for a reason. Admittedly, it's confusing at first. Why does this candidate say the word "change" in every sentence? Why have I heard the word "leadership" four times in the last 30 seconds?
When running a political campaign, candidates strive to make themselves stand out above the rest in the field. Candidates are predictable in how they accomplish this task: They pick one single topic and declare that on this most important of American values, they are the "experts." Clinton is the "experienced one," Obama is the "one who will bring change," McCain is the "straight-talker," Romney is the "outsider," Giuliani is the "leader" and Edwards "fights for the working and the impoverished." Just by listening to a candidate speak once, in practically any environment or situation, you can easily understand what their entire candidacy is based upon.
Fine, I admit it-this isn't his new campaign slogan. Even in jokes thrown around by late-night comedians, however, one can learn a great deal about presidential candidates and campaigns.
"John Edwards is on the campaign trail. He's now doing something called his 'Poverty Tour' where he's visiting people who have no money and no hope. In fact, his first stop today: John McCain's headquarters," Jay Leno astutely stated last July.
Believe it or not, you can learn about politics even before 11 p.m. rolls around and Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart are telling you the news with their own bias. You can turn on your television and cycle through channels until you find a candidate speaking on one of the major networks, and by listening to just a few sentences, you're going to realize something interesting. The candidate you are watching is repeating the same words over and over, and he is doing it for a reason. Admittedly, it's confusing at first. Why does this candidate say the word "change" in every sentence? Why have I heard the word "leadership" four times in the last 30 seconds?
When running a political campaign, candidates strive to make themselves stand out above the rest in the field. Candidates are predictable in how they accomplish this task: They pick one single topic and declare that on this most important of American values, they are the "experts." Clinton is the "experienced one," Obama is the "one who will bring change," McCain is the "straight-talker," Romney is the "outsider," Giuliani is the "leader" and Edwards "fights for the working and the impoverished." Just by listening to a candidate speak once, in practically any environment or situation, you can easily understand what their entire candidacy is based upon.
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