Opinion
State Journal Obama endorsement insults electorate
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All the phrases politicians, salesmen and religious leaders use seem wasted to me. President Kennedy pleading for Americans to “Ask what you can do for your country,” holds no more weight to me than our fake president from “24” asking, “Are you in good hands?”
But even those who are usually immune to the coiffed, smooth-talking politicians have reached a level of hysteria reserved for music superstars and appearances of Jesus Christ in a coffee stain. All because of Barack Obama.
Average citizens can be forgiven. The last eight years have forced Americans to buckle down under fear of terrorism and an uncertain future. For the good of the nation, they agreed to a path that left them with recession, foreign policy traps and a general drop in national morale. So over-the-top idealism is something that the average American wants to hang on to.
The media has less of an excuse. Perhaps years of cynical punditry has left commentators parched and in need of a drink of the Kool-Aid they always criticized. However, to see the entire MSNBC staff (save for increasingly cranky Joe Scarborough), CNN analysts and even the occasional Fox News reporter treat Barack Obama’s ascendancy as a given is almost more disappointing than their journalistic atrophy before the invasion of Iraq.
So to see the endorsements pouring in from editorial boards across the country — even the Chicago Tribune, which has never endorsed a Democratic nominee for office — is not surprising.
But even with the enthusiasm over the historic nature of his candidacy, I would expect the explanations of these newspapers to be tempered with some semblance of rationality in their support of one of the most inexperienced candidates since … well, the last president.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. While The Capital Times chastised their older brothers at the Wisconsin State Journal for even whispering the name “McCain” in the same sentence as “honorable,” they should have focused on something else: the Journal’s complete neglect of any worthy analysis or intellectual honesty.
There is not a single mention of policy. The only mention of any of the challenges facing the country come in vague platitudes that Obama himself could include in stump speeches: “American must not decline. America must remain a beacon of freedom, democracy, innovation and prosperity.”
Oh, they have specific concerns: Obama needs to tackle wasteful spending. Obama needs to reject extremist influence. Obama needs to tackle “entitlement” programs. But nowhere do they make clear that Obama would actually do any of these things. Only that he inspires the hope that he could.
Make no mistake, this is an endorsement precipitated on dreams of what could be, encapsulated in a man.
But they’re not the only guilty ones. While The Chicago Tribune made a bold move in endorsing Obama, they make only three points: We can trust Obama because we’ve seen him in action in our own state (although, they certainly didn’t agree with him most of the time), we don’t think McCain can wrangle his party out of fiscal irresponsibility and while Obama’s economic plan disappoints us, he at least did some good things for ethics reform and charter schools. Vote for him.
While its encouraging to see swing state newspapers like the Akron Beacon Journal use issues like Obama’s economic plan to justify his election, the vast majority of the endorsements use the same logic: He has the vision/drive/inspiration to change this country.
Perhaps he does, but hope does not save a country from tightrope walks over foreign policy quagmires. Inspiration doesn’t stave off economic crises. Making the American people feel better about themselves and country only provides relief until the next catastrophe strikes.
As the editorial above shows, this paper has examined the issues and decided that while Obama is disappointing on a few issues, his pledge to change the course of foreign policy toward diplomacy, provide health care where the free-market has consistently failed and provide a reasoned and nuanced system of relief and capital infusion into our economy is what sells us.
Not his messianic status. After all, with the messiah comes the apocalypse. And that’s not a future we should even begin to consider.
So, to the rest of the media: push the cultural implications aside and examine the policy points. Don’t be afraid to be a wonk; it should be your job. And if your explanations prove true in a decade, then we can celebrate a rebirth. But let’s not condemn that possibility by riding a wave of emotion into a presidency. After all, it takes more than just the captain to steer the ship away from the rocks.
Jason Smathers (jsmathers@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in history and journalism.
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Jason, if “State Journal Endorsement” wasn’t in your title, I’d have no idea what you were ranting about. Also, “media” is plural, so you should have written “The media have…”
holy hell, i am in agreement
Jason, It sounds like the WSJ was damned if they do and damned if they don’t according to your reasoning.
Newspapers should just give us the news, not tell us who we should vote for. Also, most of the news media have an extreme liberal bias. Not only is this unfair, but that fact that they have a bias makes liberals look very bad, as if they only want everyone to see only one side of every story. I am a liberal myself, by the way.
While it may be true that these newspapers did not mention specific policies that led them to their endorsements of Obama for president, Obama himself has explained his policies over and over, very clearly. Just because journalists fail to do the same doesn’t mean that Obama does not have the policies that America needs at this time. He does, and he will be the change America needs
6:44
Agreed completely - looks like this one slipped past the editors. It is very poorly written. Jason, you can do better than this.
This editorial is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone reading it is now dumber for having done so. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
I’m sure you wouldn’t have had anything to say were they to endorse McCain as expected…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally in favor of an in depth analysis of the policy positions of both candidates. McCain can’t stand on that ground either. The sudden concern over the language of this endorsement is laughable.
I personally think you’re the one being intellectually dishonest in attacking it on these grounds instead of facing up to the fact that they hurt your feelings by not endorsing McCain.
“Newspapers should just give us the news, not tell us who we should vote for”
Yeah, the opinion pages with their opinions, go figure. Wouldn’t you think people who are paid to collect news and distribute news are the best source for people who don’t follow politics? Although the Right likes to claim a bias, the Republicans have whittled down their base in a way that mainstream (i.e. newspaper readers) cannot endorse.
The problem is not media bias, the problem is the republican product.
To 11:29:
In case you didn’t notice, we endorsed Obama. So why exactly would I want the WSJ to endorse McCain?
Or did you actually read the column?
Man, it must suck to go through life being as cynical as Jason
Jason, I applaud your call for rational, logical argumentation in the midst of what has been one of the most frenzied times in recent political history.
The impassioned messianic narrative which which the media have enrobed Barack Obama must be tempered with pragmatic discussions of policy and politics.
I can rant too
Jason, this article was so great. I agree with every word. Media outlets, both nationally and on this campus are just so skewed to the left it’s ridiculous. And the people here- they are supposed to be “open minded liberals.” Please, they are some of the most close-minded people. Give them a political view in opposition to theirs and it’s as if you stole the last bit of food on their plate. And all of these media outlets, they all reiterate the words, “We want change, he offers change.” And then Obama goes on to say how he’ll reform this and that and that and this. Oh yeah? “Reform” is just a blanket statement, Obama. Give us something to work with- steps, an actual defined plan.
Also, people raise him up as if he is the messiah; they praise him for his good looks and optimism. This celebrity-like obsession with a man that promises, well, only “Change” is what gives leaders egos and empowers them to become the tyrants of tomorrow. In addition, his associations with some of the most disgustingly racist and cruel individuals hardly get talked about both in the media and by voters. Come on! Who wants a president with such a misty past and hardly any experience?
And in a recent speech at Columbia University, Obama, to a sea of thousands of students declared that “As President, I will demand that the American people recognize an obligation for military service.” Hmmm, an “obligation”? Sounds like a draft. Would all of us young people, students, who are currently looking forward to embarking on careers after college be upset if we were to embark on a war in the Middle East instead?
But hey people, he wants “Change.” And let me tell you, if Obama is elected, America will change. Whether it is for the better or worse, we shall see.
What is so sad abbout this election is that even though your criticisms of Obama are well taken, in the light of those same criticisms, Obama and Biden stand head and shoulders above McCain and Palin.