Watching the HBO film “Game Change” this week was a glaring reminder of the new truth in American Politics.
We are not voting from a pool of the best, brightest, and most qualified members of our respective parties, we are instead voting for a person chosen by party advisors who believe a certain person would bring a desired voting demographic to an election, regardless of the qualifications of said candidate.
Sarah Palin, the candidate the film Game Change focused on, was loved, hated, feared, blamed, but never ignored in the 2008 campaign cycle.
No one in the GOP said, “The most qualified person in our party to be second in command to John McCain is Sarah Palin.” No one.
Instead, it was determined that John McCain had a poor showing among women voters and they needed to find a “Game Changer” candidate for his running mate to combat Obama’s growing popularity. They needed someone who would appeal to Independents and women. In short – they Googled all the women in the GOP who held a power position in business and politics and crossed out people who didn’t play well on You Tube.
Then they came to Gov. Palin of Alaska…Sarah was pretty! She was charismatic! She was the mother of a special needs child! She liked guns! She was a devout Christian! She could singlehandedly appeal to several factions of the GOP base and draw them in, and possibly appeal to women across party lines. (Or so the theory went.)
But there was a problem – after they announced her candidacy, they realized they had failed to sufficient vet her and that she was unable to answer basic questions about…almost anything.
After awkwardly discovering this troubling fact, after realizing and acknowledging privately that they had made a terribly uninformed choice, knowing the person they were selling to the American public as a worthy vice presidential candidate didn’t have any grasp of the world and its players- they didn’t replace her. They continued to market her for the sake of the win.
And this, of course, is old news. We all know Sarah Palin was unable to answer basic questions in interviews. But have we learned anything from that giant lapse in political judgment? Are we more careful choosing candidates today?
No. Consider the field of GOP candidates and ask yourself “Are the 4 remaining contenders truly the best and brightest the Republican Party has to offer?”
I don’t believe they are. I believe they are the people with the most money and the craftiest spin doctors. I believe there are potential candidates in both parties who are fair minded, innovative, free thinking, compromise-capable people who truly love their country and want to work to find solutions to the anchors that keep the U.S. from sailing into the future. But those people don’t always get considered. Those people don't get funded.
Instead our political system has turned into a reality show with a massive expense account where only the prettiest and richest contestants get voted through to the next round while the real leaders get passed over because the camera doesn’t love them.
It’s hard for Americans to get enthused about voting when they are continually voting for the lesser of two evils instead of having a stellar field of candidates with new ideas and fresh vision from which to choose. But as long as candidates are picked and controlled by handlers, consultants and people with a vested interest in keeping the status quo – we will end up with more under-educated and over-produced candidates with a movie star smile instead of visionary leaders.
Tammy Lou Waite © 2012
