A Third Voice for 2012

In response to Christine's blog, I found a really nice op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman on the 2012 campaign, which at this point seems to be shaken up by a Santorum run that will be tested in the debate next week.  Maybe he stepped out his league talking Russian politics, but  Friedman's point in this article is well received.  I love this idea.  We as academics, college-educated crowd, and political science majors tend to see through most of the surface maneuvering that goes on in the mass media.  I think that Friedman's suggestion here would serve well to shock the conservatively cultivated minds of all those tuning into to the campaign.  Again, while we may tend to see the events more for what they really are, most people are simply tuning in at night to catch up or be spoon-fed their own ideological side of politics. 

I like Friedman's suggestion to stir the pot by throwing in a moderate intellectual who has never run for office before, but has some experience in politics, is a good one.  Perhaps audiences on both the left and the right, thinking they are tuning in to be further cultivated, have their system shocked a little bit.  As we've learned, extreme partisans will discredit the information, and enjoy it too, but true political moderates might have something to gain from hearing something off guard.  Now,  I don't know where this fits into either the conservative, liberal, or moderate news station's business plan, but as someone trying to understand strong media or weak media, it would be interesting to see what would happen to the ideological stances of average Americans when they get something not quite opposite, but maybe just that little bit different enough to make them think about their stance.  We clearly aren't getting anywhere when Fox pundits are calling Obama an evil socialist, and MSNBC pundits are calling the GOP evil defender of exploitative corporatism.  But, it would be interesting to see where we get when viewers of either spectrum are thrown just a slight curveball.  It could test both the hypodermic theory and the cultivation theory of media by seeing reactions to fairly centrist statements when viewers aren't expecting it.  Perhaps selective hearing kicks in at some point and viewers simply tune out anything that isn't in line with their views, but how about someone that challenges both the left and the right to come to the center a little bit, when neither sides seems willing or able to do it.  I think it would be interesting to see.