VP selection resembles reality television

By Brian Reinhart     9/4/08 7:00pm

A couple of years ago, the movie American Dreamz merrily imagined a world in which a thinly disguised President Bush, attempting to boost his popularity ratings, becomes a guest judge on American Idol. Last month, something similar occurred in real life, and I think I might have been the only observer to notice it. Senator Barack Obama turned the selection of his running mate into a weird reality TV show, dropping hints, secretly naming finalists and eliminating the lowest-ranked contestants.Two days before Joseph Biden joined the Democratic ticket, CNN and other news sources reported that Obama was telephoning various important politicians to let them know "they had not been selected" to become "finalists" for the vice-presidential nomination. Meanwhile, Texas Congressman Chet Edwards was able to confirm to the media that he was a "finalist" to become Obama's vice president.

The night before Obama announced his vice-presidential nominee, suspense began to flag. As MSNBC reported at the time, "Sen. Joe Biden emerged as a leading contender Friday to become Barack Obama's vice-presidential pick as two running-mate rivals learned they had been eliminated."

What interests me here is not how Senator Obama chose his running mate, but the language in which he, and everybody else, couched the process. Eliminations, finalists - it all sounds like a reality show.

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As I read of more and more politicians who had been "eliminated from contention," or who had entered "the final round" of the VP sweepstakes, it started to sound more and more like a bad show on Fox. Obama played the host, the judges and the prize, gleefully naming finalists, and eventually a winner, in the race to accompany him to the White House.

Meanwhile, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine was telling reporters that he had not been one of the last contestants standing. I imagined Obama calling to say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kaine, but you are not a finalist in this season of Who Wants to Be a Vice President?" Or perhaps a Democratic arbiter would inform Hillary Clinton, "Well, Hillary, the judges do not think you have what it takes to be Vice Presidential Idol."

Do not think I am criticizing Obama for being childish or immature about the nomination process. No, I actually think there is serious potential here for improving our elections. For one thing, we could speedily get rid of the lunatic fringe. Imagine if Tom Bergeron, host of Dancing with the Stars, called up Ron Paul and said, "Congressman Paul, the judges were impressed by your debating prowess, but did the viewers agree? We'll find out if you've been eliminated . right after this commercial break." Also, Simon Cowell could host the presidential debates.

For that matter, we could also have viewer phone-ins to determine the winners of each party's presidential nomination. That would eliminate pesky primaries, putting the entire nation on an equal plane for initial voting. No longer would Iowa hold an unfair advantage. Now anybody with a telephone could ensure that their favorite candidate would triumph in the final round.

Of course, the debates would not be about policy issues. It would make bad television. Candidates would be judged on their looks and charisma, as they have been since John F. Kennedy defeated sweaty Richard Nixon in 1960. We should also have our prospective presidents sing, dance and juggle for the judges. At least then we would know the candidates have some modicum of talent, which is more than I can say for Dick Cheney or John Kerry.

What I am getting at here is that Barack Obama, in publicizing his vice-presidential nomination as if it were a game show, has only begun to explore the possibilities. Based on what we now know about him, we can bet he will find more ways to attract more attention in the next election. He could put all his potential running mates on a small island, where they would have to compete to survive. That would draw better ratings, and I bet it would greatly increase the American people's respect for the winner. He could summon Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton to his office and said, "When we combined advisers' scores and my fan base's votes, you were in the bottom two. One of you is going home - right now."

And his campaign slogan could be, "John Sidney McCain III, you are the weakest link!"

Brian Reinhart is a Wiess College sophomore.

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