I will be the first to admit that I don't follow political updates on a regular basis. However, when I recently tuned in to the latest news, I came across a couple of news reports on an up and coming GOP candidate that has been pretty familiar with the motions for running for the GOP bid for president. The reports were about GOP candidate Ron Paul and how his ideas are finally gaining traction among other Republican Party members. Ron Paul ran for the Republican bid back in 2008, but he just couldn't persuade the party to see his ideas. This 2012 race, on the other hand, currently has him as a potential winner for the bid, and that is only according to one or two websites I have checked out so far.
Despite all this, what made Ron Paul stand out to me the most so far was a YouTube post by Jon Stewart from his show, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and how the media seems to be ignoring Ron Paul's progress. To be honest, I'm not sure how recent the post was, but the point is, that as I was watching the video it got me thinking about how powerful the media is once politics come into play, and how what the media shows, or even doesn't show, can change the decisions of thousands, even if it may, in some people's eyes, be the right one.
After I watched the video, I started to do some digging as to whether or not Ron Paul is a potential candidate, or at least someone to be reckoned with. Sure enough, I stumbled upon an article on CBS News that ranked who they believed to be some worthy frontrunners among the GOP race. Among Paul were more popular names such as Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney and a whole slew of other potentials.
In looking at other candidates for the GOP bid, Bachmann is another prominent name that comes into mind for her, what are considered by some, controversial opinions. I wanted to see how the media has affected her campaign as well, so I tried a rudimentary experiment where I typed Michele Bachmann in the Google search engine box, just to see what would come up. Immediately, several options appeared from her campaign site to opinions on her husband's work and other aspects of her personal life. From here, you could also view the 10 craziest quotes from her as well as how her husband has been accused of trying to cure homosexuality.
Now granted, running for the Republican nomination for president is a big deal and does attract a great deal of media attention, but it amazes me more than anything how the media can blatantly ignore the issues and construe a candidate's thoughts by pulling from anything, even their personal life. Taking Bachman, for example, after going through some of the options of my search, sites started popping up concerning her sexuality and how that would affect her campaign. I wasn't too surprised, but at the same time, I was really annoyed. Personally, I am more concerned on where she stands on the issues rather than her sexuality. But then again, maybe that is just me.
While there are the candidates who have their personal lives pried into, there are candidates who have no problem exposing everything to the world. Sarah Palin, for example, didn't seem to have any problem revealing the everyday happenings of her personal life t'o the world when she filmed her show "Sarah Palin's Alaska." The show was based on her and her family's life on an average day in Alaska.
Palin may not have had any problem with the show being televised to the world, but then again I personally would have a hard time taking someone who puts their life on public display seriously, especially through reality TV. The fact is you can't trust reality TV to boost your career, or to make you look more appealing to the public for that matter. The media will portray her, and in this case, her family as well, in a way they think will get people to watch the show. And sadly, in this day and age, that's to make the people on the show look as ridiculous as possible.
I'm not saying Sarah Palin was the best or worst person to run for vice president with John McCain, nor for the Republican nomination, but before we criticize her, why not listen to her ideas first before we judge on what the media tells us? The same goes for Paul and Bachmann. We view them how the media portrays them, which is all the more reason for our generation to take the initiative to find the real reasons we do or do not support someone, not because of what we see on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" or through random articles on Google search.
