Presidential Farce 2008

Many posts ago, I had mentioned an analogy between election campaigns and advertisements
"....Sometimes I feel that the outcome is purely driven by the campaign rather than any agenda or ideology. The GOP is like Coke (Red), while the Dems are like Pepsi (Blue). Around 90% of people already have a preference for Coke or Pepsi. The remainder seemed to shift their liking based on whose commercials they like the most. This is not politics....this is pure marketing !! And since this 10% is ultimately the decider of the outcome, only a solid marketing plan could lead to success."

Since beginning of this year, the media has been bombarding information about presidential hopefuls forming exploratory committee and then raising funds through banquets and charities. As it stands today, a whooping $250+ mn has already been raised, and we are more than a year away from the D-day. Its easy to forget the amount of time, effort and resource wasted in acquiring this staggering amount of money and the equivalent amount of resources spent on utilising it to unleash a campaign. The media is so consumed in highlighting this fact, that no one cares that the country is ruled by a president having less than 35% approval ratings as Iraq continues to turn into another Vietnam

Let analyse the ludicrity of the current system with a simple example. I am Hillary Clinton and I live in the state of NY. I have great friends in Washington, and my husband is fairly well-known. Thus, it doesnt take me much effort to raise $60 mn in 6 months. On the other hand you are Mr. Mike Gravel, senator from Alaska, a state whose population is less than that of Brooklyn and a state whom many kids easily forget to be part of america. You have no friends in DC, and your spouse is not very well-known. Hence you are able to raise only $250,000 this year. Given this assumption, I (Hillary) have had enough funds & staff to travel to Davenport, Iowa 7 times in last 6 months, while you Mr. Gravel have had none. Now for young adults toiling in cornfields in remote suburbs of Iowa, on the election day it is a very easy decision on whom to vote. They obviously vote for me, casue they have never even heard of Mr. Gravel. It didn't matter who is a better candidate or what the candidates actually stood for...All that mattered at the end of the day was who campaigned better, who made his/her face more visible.

Now, I, Hillary Clinton have finally become the president of the country due to gullible voters swearing allegiance to me, only because I made them 7 visits while my opponents made none. But does this mean, that I repay your faith by standing up to things that mattered to you. Nope, cause I have my loyalaties directed somewhere else - my donors. The same guys who gave me $50 mn and made it possible to make road-trips to every village and parish in the country....and to their ulterior motives will I pander, when I take the oath and move into the white house with my hubby!

In an ideal campaign, all presidential hopefuls should be allowed to raise a fixed amount of funds and should be given a fixed amount of time to campaign. Lets say everyone gets only $5 mn to spend in 6 weeks before the elections. This would ensure that everyone gets the same amount of airtime & publicity. Under this system, all candidates will be analysed under the same microscope and the electorate would actually get an opportunity to appreciate the subtle nuances in their view points rather than following Mitt Romney's kids on a bike trail through state of Iowa.

As much as Youtube has been praised as the next breakthrough in the information age, I am utterly distressed at the colossal waste of time and effort it has caused on this campaign trail. Come on people, there are more important issues this elections than watching videos of Obama's girl clash Guillani's girl on Youtube. The media, as usual, is obsessed with the election trail, and it is never easy to sift the fact from the fiction. As John Mayer aptly puts in his brilliant song 'waiting on the world to change'

" and when you trust your television
what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information, oh
they can bend it all they want

that's why we're waiting
waiting on the world to change......."