The media have been giving us binders full of blather.
In a campaign that is
supposedly, allegedly and ostensibly about big and serious issues, we
have been wallowing in what amounts to sideshow stuff.
It's not just the focus
on Mitt Romney saying at last week's presidential debate that in looking
for appointees in Massachusetts he received "binders full of women," an
admittedly funny phrase that exploded on cable news. The trending
Twitter topic after this week's face off was President Obama's line
about Romney hearkening back to a military backed by "horses and
bayonets." Journalists after the first debate flocked to that towering
issue known as Big Bird.
We have, through the
course of this endless campaign season, bounced from one ephemeral
controversy to the next, from the dog on the roof to "oops!" from Etch A
Sketch to Joe Biden's laughter.
Journalists have pounced on botched phrases deemed to be gaffes:
"I like being able to
fire people;" "You didn't build that;" "Ann Romney never worked a day in
her life;" "I'm not concerned about the very poor."
Sometimes there are
legitimate questions embedded in the choice of language, as with
Romney's apparent dismissal of 47% of America, but more often it's just a
chance to turn the candidate into a piñata.
Campaigns have always
had their lighter side, of course, but this year we seem to be getting
more empty calories than ever. That is not to slight the dogged
reporters who have in fact delved into the issues and done the arduous
work of fact-checking the candidates' ads and utterances. But let's face
it: How often has their work been on the front pages or at the top of
the newscasts?
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