A Very Perceptive View
It's been a while since I've posted anything from Watching America, and that's for two reasons. First, my weekends have been a time for rest and decompression. I can manage picking out pictures of critters and selecting cartoons and poetry, but actually thinking is a little tougher. Second, nothing in the past month has actually grabbed me by providing some insight into the US as seen from another part of the world.
This week is a little different. I found this article from Spain's El Mundo which provides a remarkably good analysis of the state of the Republican race for the 2012 nomination and which nails our press and its proclivities quite righteously.
The writer notes that with the recent withdrawal of Trump and Huckabee, things are still fluid in the race. Here, however, is the part that tickled me:
The last ones to get off the train have been Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee. Regarding the former, there is little to say. Many warned that his flirtation as a presidential candidate was his umpteenth slapstick to get media coverage and increase his salary in the upcoming “reality show.” It is not the first time he had done it, but this time the media was happy to take the bait because it was mutually beneficial. In these banal times, the only thing that matters is the ranking of the news with the most viewers.
Why, yes, I think that gets it nicely.
But the writer also has a pretty good grasp on the dynamics involving the rest of the candidates, declared or still being coy:
If anyone has benefited by all of the thinning of the roster of aspiring candidates, it is those less known to the public, such as Tim Pawlenty and John Huntsman. They will have a larger quota of media coverage, something that is needed to compete with the powerful electoral machinery of multi-millionaire Mitt Romney.
I think that's right on the money as well. This week's trip over to Watching America was worth it.
This week is a little different. I found this article from Spain's El Mundo which provides a remarkably good analysis of the state of the Republican race for the 2012 nomination and which nails our press and its proclivities quite righteously.
The writer notes that with the recent withdrawal of Trump and Huckabee, things are still fluid in the race. Here, however, is the part that tickled me:
The last ones to get off the train have been Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee. Regarding the former, there is little to say. Many warned that his flirtation as a presidential candidate was his umpteenth slapstick to get media coverage and increase his salary in the upcoming “reality show.” It is not the first time he had done it, but this time the media was happy to take the bait because it was mutually beneficial. In these banal times, the only thing that matters is the ranking of the news with the most viewers.
Why, yes, I think that gets it nicely.
But the writer also has a pretty good grasp on the dynamics involving the rest of the candidates, declared or still being coy:
If anyone has benefited by all of the thinning of the roster of aspiring candidates, it is those less known to the public, such as Tim Pawlenty and John Huntsman. They will have a larger quota of media coverage, something that is needed to compete with the powerful electoral machinery of multi-millionaire Mitt Romney.
I think that's right on the money as well. This week's trip over to Watching America was worth it.
Labels: Election 2012
posted by Diane at 11:00 AM
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