Friday, September 05, 2003

Elección: Somehow Howard Kurtz turned the snoozefest that was the Democratic debate among the nine candidates into an entertaining column. The man has a gift.

I enjoy his critiques of the news media. But he forgot to mention that it's because of the constant media heckling that these debates are so boring. The press attacks and overplays any mistake or misspeak that may drip from a politicians lips. As a result, candidates are forced to stick to staid scripts just to survive a campaign. Even Howard Dean had to tone down his usually fiery rhetoric for this debate now that he's considered to have a chance at winning the nomination.

The last presidential election was a perfect example. Bush was lambasted constantly for mispronouncing words. People said that this is a sign that he's stupid. I've met Bush and have interviewed him when he was governor of Texas. He's actually a smart guy. Sure, mangling words is a heck of a liability when you're giving speeches as President of the United States. But it's no way to rate intelligence.

In the other corner was Gore, who never mispronounced anything. The press ripped him for being wooden, a robot, etc. You can't have it both ways. Let candidates be human. Let them make some mistakes. Otherwise you're going to scare off everyone who's potentially qualified for office.

Respond to govint@mailtag.com