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Ruben for president?
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What do Americans care about these days? Just add it up; the
numbers are telling when it comes to politics versus popular
culture.
Consider this: John Kerry recently was christened front-runner
by his win in the Iowa caucus, with 38 percent of the 120,000
caucus delegates. Now politicos are waiting breathlessly for this
week’s New Hampshire primaries. New Hampshire Secretary of
State William M. Gardner predicts that 184,000 Democrats and
116,000 Republicans will vote Tuesday; in 2000, with hotly
contested races in both parties, 400,000 or so state residents,
about half of the state’s registered voters, cast
ballots.
On the national level, about 111 million people voted for
president in 2000 — a little more than half of the voting-age
population, according to U.S. Census tallies. Which doesn’t
begin to compare to the 240 million total votes Fox TV said it
counted in the last season of the network’s hit talent show
“American Idol.’’ Granted, Fox does allow people
to vote multiple times, but still it indicates that Americans seem
to care more about who can passably sing an old Bee Gees cover than
who’s in charge of the world’s most powerful
government. Catchy hooks and hip waggling trump policy and poll
numbers any day.
“I believe people in this country are interested in the
superficial,’’ said Silvana Diaz, 24, from behind the
counter of the Ahh-Some Gourmet Coffee shop and Internet cafe in
downtown Manchester, N.H. “I love that guy; he’s
spontaneous,’’ she said.
Fox spokesman Steve Grogin puts a positive spin on the massive
“Idol’’ vote. “ ‘American Idol’
is truly democratic,’’ Grogin said. “I think that
the level of enjoyment that people get out of watching this show
with their families and participating in the process is what makes
this show so successful.’’
Susannah Rosenblatt
Loa Angeles Times
LA Times-Washington Post