blargblog

Another Poll, Another Rant

Call me poll happy this week. An AP report published via ABCNEWS.com indicates that the leads of Lieberman and Gephardt in South Carolina have dropped significantly, putting them even with Dean, Edwards and Kerry. Still 46% remain "undecided", which is natural this time of the election cycle. Interestingly, Al Sharpton has a strong 5%, only a little behind the frontrunners and a bit ahead of Kucinich and Moseley-Braun. Sharpton must be campaigning hard there, as he is usually dead even with the latter two; they tend to get lumped together at the "no chance" kiddy table. Wesley Clark, who isn't officially running or campaigning, gets 2%.

All this really suggests, like all polls tend to suggest, is the power of media presence. Sharpton is a frequent guest on MSNBC and FOXNews political scream matches, including the O'Reilly Factor, where, oddly, he is treated with more respect than, say, Jeremy Glick ever was. The only time I have seen Kucinich on a cable show was Comedy Central's The Daily Show, an opportunity he squandered instantly. No message. No presence. He let Jon Stewart do all the talking, save to twice repeat the a vague line about opposing our current preemptive war foreign policy and creating a internationalist foreign policy. Nothing on the economy. Nothing on jobs. No good one-liners or cogent arguments or nothing. He was a lump. If Kucinich is not going to take campaigning seriously, why should we take his campaign seriously? Yes, I base this on one appearance on a joke news show, but: a) Jon Stewart was asking him good questions that provided plenty of opportunity for him to make his case, b) Kucinich gets rare opportunities on television to bring his message to the public, so he should take what he can get seriously (Nader did, after all) and c) that's the reality of politics, like it or not.

I am interested to see how endorsements of Moseley-Braun by NOW and the National Women's Political Caucus will affect her campaign. She has been practically absent from most discussions of primary politics, but if she can garner enough support among liberals and women among Democrats, she could influence the debate during the primary season. Getting the boys to take women's issues more seriously than spouting platitudes and actually adopting points on Moseley-Braun's agenda would be a real accomplishment.