The Mass Media and Politics

Steven Colbert announced that he was going to be running for president…but only in the state of South Carolina which just happens to be his home state. I am not sure of the feelings of most of the public but personally I dont know what to think. Part of me is thinking that he is an idiot and would never have a chance of even being taken seriously, but there is another part of me that thinks he actually has a chance of winning, well at least in South Carolina, and people will actually support him as much if not more then the other candidates.

The part of me that thinks he is an idiot and wont be taken seriously is wondering why any of this even came up? Yes, I understand that he and many others think the government is going down the crapper and we all need to be saved, but what is the point of putting himself out there. It is just too reminiscent of the Robin Williams movie Man of the Year. Other then getting press and for people to notice him, he has not talked about a reason or specific issues he has that has triggered him to run. Obviously he is not taking this seriously because he is only running in South Carolina, if he actually wanted to win he would run nationally. This all must just be a publicity stunt.

 The other part of me that thinks he has a chance of winning and people will support him, is scared. What if he does win in South Carolina, what will this say for politics as a whole? We have already had an actor for a president and now another, but do we need to add comedian to the list. Well, if that is not making our government laughable (no pun intended). This man makes a living making fun of the very government that he is trying to get his foot in the door of. As Blo-go would say, “What is he thinking?” I am not sure how well it would work for him to sit behind the desk in the Oval Office and make fun of himself.

I would have to guess that he is simply trying to prove a point with announcing that he is thinking about announcing  for running for president only in South Carolina. If he follows through with this stunt it will be interesting to see how he does. If he does poorly then the joke is on him, if he does well…then we might have a problem. This could open the door to many others that are, in my opinion, not qualified to be the President. Would I vote for Steven Colbert if I had the option? Absolutely NOT! But would it be entertaining? Of course, but that might be the very point. How stupid would that current government and candidates look if a comedian beat everyone else out? …yeah that’s the point. After all, that is all he does.

Wanna watch it?          http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=118625&title=colberts-big-announcement

How about read it?          http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9798943-36.html

The candidates that are running for the 2008 presidential elections, for the most part, are the same suspects as before, just different names. However, there are two Democratic candidates that are making waves, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Why are they making waves…because they are different.

Ahh, Hillary Clinton. We all know who she is from her husband, Bill. Some say that Bill made her who she is, but others say that she was the brains behind Bill when he was President, he was simply a face for the public…who knows?? There is much controversy over Hillary running, she is a woman you know! This is the first difference that I would like to touch on. Can a woman handle running the country? Of course, there is no reason why a woman does not have the ability to run the White House. The problem is that a woman has never done it before so there is doubt in peoples minds. Hillary trys to put a good image in peoples minds but that is hard to do when you have half the people telling you that you are too harsh and the other half that you are acting too girly. For this reason you end up with a vision of her in a power suit sitting on a large floral couch (not the best).

Then we have Barack Obama. The black guy right..no, he isnt black enough to be black. Barack is a young senator from good old Illinois that helped out the people of Chicago, YAY! The biggest issue with him is that he is African American. The white people, especially in the very conservative areas, dont think that a black man should be the President, but then you have some of the African American community that thinks if there is going to be a black President that he needs to be dark black, if you know what I am saying. Well, can a black man run the country? Again, of course, there is no reason why not. It is simply that he is different.

The main problem Hillary and Barack have with winning the election is not that they are not capable of doing the job but that they do not know how to market themselves to the people. As you know, if you dont feel like you can have a beer with the President then they cant be in office. I think some people would have a problem having a beer with the stiff woman and a young almost black man.

There is a poem that I like entitled Welcome Change. There is a section of the poem that I feel explains what citizens are feeling.

We fight change, because we fight the unknown,
We fight the unknown, because we are scared,
Scared of change, scared of the unknown.

This is what most of the people are feeling, they are scared of someone that is not your typical graying old white guy in office. It matters what they look like because that is what people know. If they know nothing else about a candidate, they will probably know what he or her looks like. Look the part of you wont get cast. Do I think either of them are going to elected?..personally, no. However, I could be very wrong, I have been before. I think they are just a small step in the process of change, put the different ones in the mix first, then get them elected.

 If you want to read the whole poem by Gina Whitacre called Welcome Change, go to the link.     http://ourfootprints2.wordpress.com/2007/07/06/poem-welcome-change/