The American Presidential Election

The popularity of the United States presidential election is at an all time high. Sometimes I feel like I can’t escape it. I do live in Canada, right? But then, things were shaken up this year. Instead of the usual two boring old white guys, we have an African American man running for president, a woman ran for president, and now we have Sarah Palin, the gun toting Governor of Alaska. I'll keep my comments about candidates to myself; I don't want this to turn into a rant.

However, I will say that the days of sitting in a room listening to "seven hours of talk"(Postman 45) are certainly over. The election, now more than ever, is immersed in media - in visuals and in technology.

We can observe candidates’ clothing, their hairstyles, and their spouses. We can join Facebook groups to support our favourite candidate, wear clothing with their faces on it, or put bumper stickers on our cars. Even the candidates themselves are getting in on the act. I recently saw video of Barack Obama discussing the music he had on his iPod.

Still, it irks me that more people vote for American Idol than vote for the presidential elections. If that doesn’t define how media-obsessed our culture is, then what does? It seems that if we can't do something from the comfort of our couches, we simply won't do it.



Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.
New York: Penguin, 1986.