The American President Reality Show

Are the American people so used to watching so-called “reality T.V.” shows (which actually twist reality into weird scenarios) that we will treat the contest for the American President like it was the American President Reality Show: a spin-off of American Idol? It sure seems so. Hello? Does anyone care about the challenges facing our country? The wars? The millions of people without health care? The loss of jobs and homes? How about the actual positions of the candidates? The economic plans? The international relations plans? The Health and welfare plans? None of that seems as important to the electorate as personality, style or the last performance.

The “story” about the candidates seems to be more important than the reality. That is why many people say they will vote for McCain, because in his latest performance he says he is a Maverick who will bring change to Washington, even though the reality is that he has voted with the current administration over 90% of the time and has shifted further and further to the right as the campaign has gone on.

Or witness the phenomenon of Sarah Palin. After knowing about her for less than a week, many people say they will vote for her, because “She gave a great performance,” or “I like her” or “She is hot.” Never mind the reality that she has radical conservative beliefs and that she seems to have almost no knowledge or interest about national or international issues. She has been great for ratings! She is the ultimate American Idol-type candidate. Great story, little substance.

On the American Idol T.V. show (for the 10 of you who have not seen it, I will explain) viewers vote every week based on the singing performances they have seen and heard and the commentary of the 3 judges, who are strictly there to critique and have no vote in the outcome. Every week, one or more contestants are eliminated until the penultimate show where the last 2 contestants perform and the new winner is crowned.

That is remarkably like how this American President election is playing out. We had a group of contestants at the start. Then, people voted in the primary rounds and eliminated many of them, mostly it seems on popularity. Only the last 2 teams are left. Now, every speech or interview is critiqued like a performance by the judges of the media: “I thought he chose the wrong material,” “I did not like his delivery,” etc. Even to the judges, style and story seem more important than substance. Who cares if the speech was riddled with lies and mis-directions. If the story was good, it was a great performance.

Remember, it’s not about who is the best, it’s about who gets the most votes. The best singer does not usually win American Idol. It is usually the singer with a good story, or one whose choice of music appeals to the most people or one who appeals to an enthusiastic fan base, who will vote repeatedly for them. At least that multiple vote part does not happen in our American President election (even though some people are wondering about that as well).

If you don’t agree with the winner of American idol, you can always change the radio station. If you don’t agree with the way the President is running the country, it is much more difficult to adjust your life. Didn’t we learn the last time we saw the American President show that there can be terrible consequences if we vote for a candidate based on popularity rather than positions on issues and competence? I hope so,