Voter Marketing

Bob Herbert has a great Op-Ed piece in Monday's NYT on why no one discusses important issues during an election campaign. It is quite sad really that we're electing a president based on how they look, act and feel rather than what they stand for. Unfortunately I tend to think that Treleaven and Price were right - the electorate is lazy and the issues are complex. So you go to the basic appeal of the product rather than the purpose it serves. You pitch the president like you would pitch a cereal. And it works! Capitalism at its best, I guess.

One also shouldn't neglect the effect of living in a rich democracy where the electorate doesn't feel the need to vote. "Who cares... they're all the same. My life don't change none." And hence the circle goes round and round.

Of Campaigns and Breakfast Cereals
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/opinion/30herbert.html