The Mainstream Media & its Aversion to Substance

It is a sign of how far the mainstream media has shifted away from the substance of contemporary political debates to the “style” when commentators for The Washington Post bemoan this very phenomenon. That is, a commentator for one of America’s most well known news outlets is essentially saying, “we don’t focus on political substance as much as we should.”

And indeed, they don’t. After the vice presidential debate, one of the most talked about aspects was “Joe Biden’s smirk” (WTF!?). Yes, his smirk, a smirk that apparently sent chills down the spins of Romney partisans as much as it warmed the hearts of the Democratic Party faithful.

Perhaps the focus on Mr. Biden’s smirk or Paul Ryan’s constant eye-popping moments wouldn’t be so outrageous if the commentary following the debate focused more on the actual substance of what was said.

All in all, however, it seemed as though both mainstream and online news outlets were content with exploring the expressions of the different candidates and how these could shape the future of the presidential election.

Here’s a wakeup call to these news outlets: policy matters! Policy matters so much that the Romney ticket’s aversion to spelling out its own tax-cutting policy specifics should send up a huge red flag for anyone in the country who is thinking about voting. It should also be the topic of discussion among every decent news outlet in America.

To say you’re going to cut marginal tax rates by 20 percent while significantly reducing our country’s debt is a mighty bold claim. It is even bolder when there is no plan describing how this mighty feat will be accomplished. It should be the responsibility of every news outlet across the country to dig deeper for these answers.

But for everyone but the Romney partisans, it’s clear how this economic miracle will be pulled off, by further eroding the economic position of America’s middle class, a class of American’s that Romney apparently thinks are largely government subsidized freeloaders.

Thus, in their aversion to substance, the mainstream news outlets in particular are assisting a presidential candidate who not only holds egregious policy positions, he also holds almost half of America as outside of his sphere of concern.

Here’s to a brave new world, indeed.