The Chris Moeller Archives

The talk clock

Sunday night's Democratic candidate debate on CNN featured vast differences in the amount of free air time given to candidates. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, two candidates who lead in the polls, received 16:00 minutes and 14:26 minutes of talk time, respectively, while on the low end of the field, Christopher Dodd and Mike Gravel received 7:28 and 5:37 minutes. Isn't it a little fucking early to be winnowing down the pool of candidates? We're still 17 months away from the general election, seven away from the voter primary in New Hampshire, the state in which this debate took place.

Time-Warner... er, CNN, placed candidates Gravel and Dennis Kucinich both on the far ends of the stage-- reminding voters that the two men are "extremists" before they begin challenging their opponents on the discrepancies between their rhetoric and resumes. Before the second half of the debates, during which the candidates would be seated, network goons installed tables between a few of the chairs, choosing a bizarre formation that served to further isolate the two "fringe" candidates.

It's appalling, but typical of a mainstream news media that covers elections like horse races, content to report on the positioning and posturing of the candidates rather than on the substance of the issues, and equating corporate fundraising with voter appeal. It's worse than a horse race, actually, because the oddsmakers are allowed to determine the positioning at the starting gate.

From its very beginning, Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, a very populous "red" state, has been a sage about America's disastrous foray into Iraq-- and that war is the #1 polling issue of the campaign, but Hillary Clinton, with her undistinguished voting record in the Senate, was granted a full five more minutes of talk time during this debate, in part, it would seem, because her husband, a former president, lived it up like Gene Simmons during his tenure in the White House.

For added measure on Sunday night, CNN outfitted Clinton with a very visible stepping stool behind her podium (Why not one for Kucinich?) and, once again, refused to identify their on-staff analyst, James Carville, as a "Clinton '08" campaign supporter and fundraiser. Ultimately, what's the point of Democratic candidates having rejected a televised debate on FOX News if the other cable news outlets are going to throw their weight behind Rupert Murdoch's candidate as well?

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Baseball icon Yogi Berra delivered the commencement address two weeks ago at St. Louis University in his hometown. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist secured a transcript of the speech.

Remember: Half the lies you hear won't be true, and half the things you say, you won't ever say.

posted by CM @ 3:45 PM