Sound-bite Politics and why Hillary can’t beat McCain

This week gives us another example of the sound-bite-driven “gotchya” politics that dominates our political process. Earlier this week Obama made some comments that could be interpreted as an insult to groups of Pennsylvanians. If you listen to the entirety of his comments in context, they seem much less problematic. But, let’s set that aside. I want to discuss this issue more broadly as an example of the problem of “sound-bite” politics we seem to be practicing these days.

Anytime a politician says anything that can be twisted and turned into something that it isn’t, the opposition is there to express their “disbelief” that someone could say something so horrid or that someone could be so “out of touch.” Then, for the next 48-hours the only thing you see on the news is a high-stakes, multimedia version of he-said, she-said. Rather than discussing issues related to the divisions in this country, we are left with sound bites such as Howard Dean’s scream, talking heads debating various interpretations of a certain quote, and various volleys back and forth between the campaigns.

Where does this get us? It gets us the division we currentlty have. It gets us the politics of say anything or do anything to get one vote more than my competitor (and who cares if that is less than 50% of the country). What should we do? It’s time for political candidates, news media, and American public to get past this silly form of one-line politics and, instead, begin to focus on the issues. It’s take to take a higher road. But, this is easier said than done. The issues are complex, require time to discuss, debate, and understand. In short, they take longer than the 12-seconds the networks often give to the sound bites they like to play on TV.

I believe, however, that one candidate has taken this high road. Barack Obama has committed to a campaign largely free of this form of divisive, attack politics. Here’s a simple comparison. A visit to the news page of the Hillary Clinton campaign site lists the following top-5 headlines:

4/11 Statement from Spokesman Jay Carson
4/11 Hillary Clinton Sets
Goal Of Cutting Murder Rate In Half
4/11 America’s Mayors Applaud
Hillary Clinton’s "Solutions For Safe & Secure Communities Now" Plan
4/11 Hillary Clinton Reacts to Sen. Obama’s Newly Discovered
Characterizations of Pennsylvanians
4/11 Obama Slams Oil Company Tax
Breaks He Voted For

Two of the top-5 stories seek to “slam” her competitor rather than talk about her own ideas. Now, let’s take a look at the same list from the BarackObama.com website:

4/11 Obama Discusses Plan to Give Shareholders a Say in
Executive Pay
4/10 Obama Discusses Plan to Help
Families, Stimulate the Economy
4/10 Statement of
Barack Obama on President Bush's Stay the Course Iraq
Strategy
4/10 Utah Democratic Party Chair Wayne
Holland Endorses Barack Obama
4/9 Obama
Campaign Statement on Clinton's Latest Misleading Attack Regarding
Iraq

Here you see one reference to Hillary and only in response to an attack she started. But, more important is to look at the BarackObama.com website around the time of Hillary’s, now admitted, misstatements about sniper fire in Bosnia. If Obama practiced the same brand of politics as his competitors in this race, why isn't there a comment on the BarackObama.com homepage that says “Obama releases statement regarding Hillary’s fabricated experiences in Bosnia” or "Hillary lies again: Bosnia story a fabrication." Why doesn’t Barack appear on network TV calling her a liar? Or delusional? Why? Because he doesn’t believe in that form of politics. Obama is about bringing people together, and is not for saying whatever it takes to win.
Again, don’t take my word for it. Go visit the press release pages of the two campaigns (Obama Clinton )and see for yourself. Which one would you want setting the tone for America’s future?
What does this have to do with electability? Well, Clinton’s campaign hasn’t hesitated to slam Obama at any chance. In short, I find it unlikely that McCain will find anything new to throw at Barack. In comparison, think about how much ammunition McCain will have if he faced Clinton. By taking the higher road, Barack has left so much material on the table that McCain will have a field day trashing Clinton. Think I am wrong here? Have a look at McCain’s press releases and then make your decision.

Obama is better than Clinton in the general election because Clinton has tested him like McCain will. You can’t say that the opposite is true. And besides...isn't it better to have a candidate who talkes issues first?

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