EARY BIRDSL
Some people I find, are genuinely disturbed with the present state of our Presidential election. .They fear both parties have mistakenly jumped the gun on the use of the heavier types of material they usually reserve for the closing,, showdown weeks.
The displeasure makes sense, too. Some features of the election processes may well be out of sync with present-day truths. The so-called “rules” do nut apply for all of Time and can become obsolete. They turn with the times and the tides and with public sentiment, as well. They have always done so and the fact that they are now drawing objections will cause more people to wonder about the extreme length pf our political contests.
The long run made sense when the world moved as a slower pace. Candidates used to need months in order to get their views before their potential supporters. No more. TV has changed all that. Even when candidates speak to live, demonstrating crowds it is prime time TV fare for millions of viewers of all types., not just a narrow section which is already his anyway with the hope they that they might tell others outside the fold. In person site candidates may be speaking to fifty agreeable voters at each railroad yard stopover.
There is no longer a need for keeping such restrictive rules. Even now we are supporting such groups with six month to bingo which tactics used far ahead of time may atrophy once the spontaneity of verbal contacts will have diminished, and issues will be drained of real content and become a burden to bear. I think Jimmy Durante put it as well as anyone when he was asked to comment on having - after much delay done his first TV show: ”Twenty-five years of good material shot to hell!”
One subject has been missing from the campaign thus far and most people have not missed it at all. Some voters-to-be individuals may well bring “morality” to the fore if things get too dull on the long, lonely journey to Election Day. It could be based on a tabloid treatment of the anti-war activities of John Kerry's postwar anti-war protesting sprees by bring forth facts, figures and photographs and critical examinations of every possible jot-and- tittle concerning George Bush's management or mis-management of the current War On Terrorism.
The other plausible ingredient to fill the days of the long wait might well be for the Democrats, if things are not looking up, to hit the sawdust trail with an all-out “anti war” banners held high. If they can get the Mel Gibson “Passion” fans, they're as good as in. I have suggested this strange but likely turn of the war before as our “Worst Case Script” for our present, stretched-out election. Better shine up that old halo of yours, if you can find it. Be ready.
A.L.M. March 18, 2004 [c489wds]
