Unreality Show

To the Editor:
Pollsters, pundits, and politicians are all routinely guilty of reducing the public discourse to the lowest possible denominator—not even a common denominator. We all understand that. We recognize the implicit nonsense when a candidate who says government is too big also promises to bring more oversight if elected. We all understand that when one candidate accuses another of voting 113 times against this or 35 times for that, the true story is much more complicated—because bills including the same issue are introduced many times over by many legislators in both houses with or without lobbyist or even citizen pressure, chewed over in committee hearings, in the aisles, and everywhere else-then (maybe) voted on in one house or another, with the results going to conference committees and more chewing and deal-making.
Candidates may be revealing important truths or just playing gotcha when they point to voting records. And debates, of course, are never intended to achieve consensus—they are designed to separate and distinguish their opponents and their opponents’ positions from one another. Yes, we do know this. We have to look beyond the game of gotcha and try to discern the realities.
One reality is that “Washington outsider” status has been claimed by many candidates who may or may not have become presidents in the last couple of decades. Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W, Bill Clinton—each of them ran under that banner. Their records and their policies prove that Washington Outsider is not a party or a policy approach, it’s a campaign slogan—period.
The reality as this voter sees it is this: Obama and Biden seem to take the issues and their candidacy seriously. John McCain is stuck with having had to sell out to gain the support of a party that has not always liked him. His running mate’s lack of readiness is exceeded only by her grandiosity. She’s the ultimate job applicant who managed to score the interview but is not equipped to take the job—or the possible promotion that could come with it. She’s the candidate of the party that thought it could turn the campaign into a reality show with celebrity spots, apparently unaware that we know reality shows are about gimmicks.
In this election, the important thing is for us as voters to get real, to take our country, our world, and our planet seriously, and get to work fixing the damage to all three.

Sheri McMahon
Fargo