[PEN-L:30612] Re: Re: Personalities and the List

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't disagree that the media thrives on personalities, but is there
anyway that we could learn to communicate in such a way that more
important aspects of political economy can be engaging?

Doug Henwood wrote:

> Michael Perelman wrote:
>
> >How is it that so much of modern political discourse concerns
> >personalities?
>
> Well there's the media, which thrives on them, and they set a good
> bit of the agenda, or at least what people think and talk about. U.S.
> politics has long turned on personalities, though - 19th century
> presidential campaigns were full of mudslinging and hero manufacture.
> Also in the U.S., our main politicians agree on so much, as do
> journalists, that horse race and personality issues dominate. It's
> amazing to see Daschle complain that Bush is politicizing the war, as
> if war weren't political. But I guess he means injecting it into the
> partisan marketing campaign, which always puts the sissy Dems at a
> disadvantage.
>
> Doug

--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901