How The Media Has Failed Us

I didn't watch Diane Sawyer's gossip-fest with the Doctors Dean. This L. A. Times article describes one reason why:

Out of the 96 questions that Sawyer asked, 90 were about personality and temperament and only six were even vaguely about issues; virtually all 96 were hostile and negative. Thirty-six were about Dean's supposedly out-of-control Iowa concession speech, his alleged bad temper and the loss of momentum of his campaign. ("So did you lose your temper at [your son's] hockey game?") The 10-second yell in his Iowa concession speech was replayed three times during the interview, along with riffs by David Letterman and Jay Leno. ("How does it feel, to be the object of all these jokes?") Twenty questions were about Judy Dean's absence from the campaign, which appeared to fault her for failing to stand by her man while at the same time criticizing the couple's decision to be interviewed together. ("Is it because it's a troubled time and and the juggernaut has hit some pothole?") Twenty-one questions were about their family life, which all had a decidedly negative cast. ("Religion, first of all, ever a problem? Jewish? Christian?") All the questions to Judy Dean had a shockingly sexist subtext, about her clothes and hair and whether or not she was ready for the prime-time spotlight. She was made to seem like an un-American weirdo for failing to watch her husband on TV, for failing to have cable and for receiving rhododendron plants for her birthday. ("Not exactly romantic ")

I don't care about that crap!

I want to know what Dean will do about the high unemployment rates, outsourcing of jobs (with some discussion about how NAFTA and GATT have contributed to the loss of American jobs), overthrowing Bush's rich folks tax cuts, balancing the budget, cleaning up the environment, welfare reform (as in will he turn back the way the states and family values ideologues are using the poor to advance their own agendas?), his cognitive dissonance about domestic violence (with an explanation as to why he remained friends with a former body guard who had beaten and his wife and repeatedly cheated on her.), how he will get our troops safely and quickly back home, how he will improve U. S. foreign relations after the Bush Administration did everything to turn the U. S. into an Imperialist bully, and the other numerous ways he will need to clean up the collossal mess Bush Administration has dumped in our children's laps.

I will pay close attention to how he answers my questions about welfare reform and job outsourcing, since both have had bi-partisan support since Clinton was president.

I am one of those Independent, undecided female voters being courted by all of the candidates as well as Bush. I will admit that I do not care much for Dean, but if he wins the Democratic nod I will vote for him over Bush.

Deep down, though, I wonder why bother? In many ways I believe that the leading Democratic candidates and Bush aren't that much different from each other. Too much pandering to the rich and big business from all sides.