Making the Sunday Morning Rounds...

I always find it somewhat comical when I see a once bellicose politician reduced to the shadows of the political world.  As of now, this can be said for the once frontrunner, then not, then frontrunner, now not Newt Gingrich.  Gingrich has fluctuated like the tide, up and down, since the start of this circus of a GOP nominating process.  Now, Newt is basing his hopes on Super Tuesday, hoping that a big win in Georgia, and good finishes in other southern states, can propel him to the nomination.  Gingrich is now saying that he is going to become, again, the candidate of "big ideas" and that this will help him win.  Here's the problem, though this nomination process has been anything but normal, there is no doubt that Mitt Romney is picking up momentum.  Every candidate that challenges him seems to only be able to do so for a few weeks and then they fall back off.  Romney is back up in the national polls and this time it may be for the long haul.  The end result, Gingrich can say whatever he wants, but it seems that his time may be running out.

One thing that is interesting to talk about is the increased role that the Sunday morning talk shows are beginning to play in the political process.  Just a few years ago, the Sunday morning talk shows were not really the forums for the candidates to go on.  They did not play a significant role in the political process.  However, in the last few years, with specific emphasis on this year, the candidates have used the Sunday morning talk shows as sort of a launching pad for their plans, candidacies, and ideas.  Furthermore, the Sunday morning talk shows have been used for bragging, and/or damage control, after a Saturday of wins and/or gaffes.  There is no doubt that these Sunday talk shows have become a central player when it comes to presidential politics.

To present an example, this past weekend Newt Gingrich went on 4 of the 5 national Sunday morning talk shows.  Desperation?  Maybe.  But there is no doubt that Gingrich sees the important roles that these shows can play.  For candidates without an overwhelming abundance of money and staffers (cite Gingrich again), the talk shows provide candidates a relatively cheap way to reach a whole lot of people.  This also be said to be an example of the manufactured-type politics that many Americans don't like.  Why would candidates go "press the flesh" when they can reach millions from a television studio in Washington?  While this may be a bit of an exaggeration, and while clearly we are not yet to the point where we can substitute personal campaigning for national talk shows, there is no doubt that talk shows are increasing in their importance.  They may very well be the way of the future.

So, will the Sunday morning talk shows save Newt Gingrich?  Doubtful.  Will they give him the national spotlight once again?  Still, doubtful.  But, they will get his name out there, as evidenced by this very blog post.  In a world that is dominated by new media sources and blogs such as this one, it is interesting to examine the importance of these talk shows.  These shows may prove some scholars wrong and show that the broadcast media still reign supreme when it comes to being the kingmakers of elections.

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