Appearance vs. Politics

The New York Times published an article this Sunday which tackled the issue of the Democratic candidates’ hunt for black voters. I found it interesting how the author approached the topic. For once, a reporter recognized that senator Obama and Hillary Clinton were not the only two democratic candidates in the race for the primary. They also mentioned North Carolina senator John Edwards and Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Despite this referral to these other potential candidates, the debate of winning black votes still focused around Obama and Hillary. In the end I felt that the article leaned more in favor of Hillary. The author placed emphasis on the history of the candidates due to their date of birth and involvement in the civil rights movement, indicating that Hillary would have more pull with black voters since she grew up in the civil rights era while Obama was too young and lived away from the issues in Hawaii and Indonesia. I find this interesting because it shows that the media is forcing the public to place emphasis on involvement in an event that in past elections had absolutely no importance whatsoever. Obviously the focus is due to the fact that a black candidate is at the forefront of the Democratic Primary, but it is the media that forces voters to look at the issue racially instead of what policies the candidates are working towards. Ever since televisions began gracing the public’s homes, presidencies have been won by appearance, not because of their politics. This upcoming election is too important to have this trend be the deciding factor for winning the presidency but sadly, the media molds coverage to attention on looks, not politics.

"Recalling Struggle For Civil Rights, Democrats Battle for Black Votes"