Media’s shaping
of the election
Covering, changing outcome
of campaigns a fine line
Presidential politics is a different game, even from 10
years ago.
And we know what the older folks in the crowd might be
saying about us, a bunch of college students in a no-swing
state, preaching about politics going a different way. But we
see it And the game has changed significantly.
What else could describe die plight of Republican George
W. Bush in the last six days, going from fearfiil to high to low
to unknown to whatever else - depending on what university
the election analyst is from, what newspaper is writing the
story, which TV talking head is spewing which invective from
which side of the aisle on which channel, which gets a certain
rating at a certain time and is, no matter what anyone else says,
the one you turn to for news.
5o wno s running tor president!
Imagine a You wonder if it’s Bush, a man who
, j i jj was told, cajoled and assured he had to
basketball win the South Carolina primary
rrn m/i ^ Saturday or he’d bow out to Sen. John
game wnere McCain. Suddenly, South Carolina, a
^ £ state without much importance attached
to it otherwise, became a make-or-break
announcers f°r the multimillion-dollar man.
So Bush went out and won the hard
Had an effect line Republicans, losing his place close
j to the middle. He made statements and
On trie curried favor and sided with people
> whoassure he will never go back to his
OUlCOme ... compassionate conservatism. He can
claim it, but not without being called a
liar by McCain or a possible Democratic opponent in the
future.
-
_ _ Tuesday, Bush lost in Arizona and Michigan to McCain,
mainly because independents and Democrats came out in
droves to vote for the senator. Bush might have won those
votes before South Carolina. Not now. Bush won the election
among Republicans. But he didn’t win the primary. And this is
what the election is coming to.
Somewhere along the way, our vicarious enjoyment - our
meaning the pundits, the media and the academics - went
across the line from covering the election into shaping the
election. Imagine a basketball game where announcers had an
effect in die outcome. Bush, and of course, President Clinton,
have fallen prey to the public.
It’$ hard to say how much we’ve cost him and how much
he’s cost himself. But at what point does the race beconfe
about the candidates - and not our coverage of their commer
cials?
Editorial Board
Josh Funk (editor) • J.J. Harder • Cliff Hicks • Samuel
McKewon • Dane Stickney • Kimberly Sweet • Lindsay
Young
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three. :
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Letters to the
EDITOR
Don’t ask, don’t Bell
In response to Rodney A. Bell’s
letter about gay rights on campus,
should all armed services, active or
ROTC, be disbanded because they
don’t allow gays? Gays are allowed in
the military under the “don’t ask,
don’t teir policy.
What people seem to forget is that
it is the military that allows them to
voice their opinions. Not the
Constitution, not Congress, not the
president, but the military. Without
the military, their personal freedoms
wouldn’t exist. I think Rodney would
do well to remember that the next
time he asks for the removal of the
institution that protects him.
Chris Rodgers
computer science
freshman
Hetero scholarships
Mr. Bell, I understand that you
have your own personal preferences
when it comes to sexuality, and more
power to you for standing up for what
you believe in.
First of all, Mr. Bell, I do not dis
criminate against you, I simply dis
criminate against things that you
uphold that negatively impact me.
It’s great that people realize that
they are gay, but as long as we base
scholarships or funds on being gay,
why don’t we give scholarships to
those who are heterosexual? Or hous
ing support for those young hetero
sexual couples? Along your line of
thinking, that wouldn’t be very far off.
Johanna OUerich
Russian/international affairs
junior
Who’s the hussy?
To a certain extent, I can under
stand Ms, Brown’s disgust of what
she saw happening on “Who Wants to
Marry a Millionaire.” However, I felt
she was using the column more to
vocalize the plight of gays in
America, rather than giving any con
structive criticism to what ifras, basi
cally, just a really bad idea for a TV
show.
I have to wonder if Ms. Brown did
any research into the backgrounds of
any of the contestants before simply
denouncing them as “bimbos” and
“hussies.”
She claims one young lady, after
describing her as young, dumb and
blonde, said the word “fun” 586
times. Is that accurate? Did she actu
ally sit there and count? I would think
as a film student she would realize
that there are directors, producers and
studio executives who would never
allow one word to be used that many
times.
Perhaps some or all of these con
testants were college-educated, or
came from loving, productive, moral
families. Whether they were intelli
gent or not is only the smaller issue
here.
There are some women who, for
reasons of their own, prefer to marry
wealthy men. I do not judge them for
that. We all have the right to our pri
orities. Maybe if I had married for
money instead of for love, I would
have taken more vacations, had a
nicer car to drive and could afford a
lot of the things I am doing without
now.
At any rate, I do not condemn
their right to pursue a rich man if that
is what they want for themselves. To
pursue him on national television,
while unconventional, risky and in
poor taste, was simply a different
method of achieving that end.
Brown also seemed to take
offense to not only the show’s
premise and its contestants, but also
to its announcers. I doubt the female
announcer got to decide what she
wore, and as for the male, I can’t realT
ly comment until I understand exact
ly what a “slime-ball-o-rama”, actual
ly is.
Finally, if Brown wishes to “sit
back and laugh at straight people who
misuse their powerful gift,” that is
certainly her prerogative. But I
should point out that this gift is not
really a gift, it’s a right to choose your
life partner, in whatever form tha^
takes. This choice is available tp
every American, gays included.
f
Kerry Grammar
Lincoln
Wit Without Substance
Regarding David Baker’s column
(“University’s multicultural attempts
poor”), I have to admit I’m a little
uncertain about his message.
The fact that Mr. Baker has elect
ed to address the plight of “black
Nebraskans” is admirable, and I’m
sure the fact that he “goes to Africa
often” gives him additional insight.
However, by launching into a worn
out role-reversal analogy, he may be
displaying his journalistic wit but
does very little for the supposed issue
at hand - how the university deals
with cultural diversity issues.
It may be both amusing and eye
opening to consider David’s hypo
thetical “National Association for the
Advancement ofWhiteys,” but it fails
to say anything about what is lacking
in university multicultural policies.
And Mr. Baker, if you’re REALLY on
top of your game, you may even
enlighten your readers with some
suggestions on how to improve the
situation for minorities at UNL.
Chris Sommerich
graduate student
political science
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