Monday, August 07, 2023

If Any Publicity Is Good Publicity

     One Presidential candidate is getting heaps and tons and piles and hours of free airtime.  Sure, other than on those outlets already firmly in his camp, it's all negative, but does that matter?  You can't open a newspaper, turn on a news-ish TV channel or look at an online news or opinion site without seeing the guy's name.

     I don't think the American electorate is so pinheaded and shallow that mere media saturation will move the needle -- because we're also stubborn.  But polls keep showing likely voters in near balance and the two most probable candidates have roughly equal -- and awful -- disapproval ratings.  At this point, you'd have to be a fool to bet on the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election, yet we're all obliged to.

     Welcome to the future.  It's stupid.

     P.S.: still no flying cars.  Still no cheap fusion power.  Still no Lunar Hilton.  And the Mars Colony guy appears to have decided it's more fun to dink around on social media instead.

7 comments:

Cop Car said...

I wish I believed that media saturation was incapable of moving the needle. The fact that such a despicable person gets so much free airtime/print space/online electrons is a personal pet peeve. If it were actual news, it would be different, but gratis mention/exposition is loathsome - in my not-so-humble opinion.

Anonymous said...

Anything relating to that individual gets "clicks" and that's what it's all about . . . unfortunately. :-(

Joe in PNG said...

The Heel always gets more attention than the Face.
And having a convenient pre-packaged conspiracy theory to explain that your side is actually the real majority, and Those Ebil Swamp People are Lying and Fake Newsing the Only Person Who Can Save America (blah blah blah) is a comfortable way to avoid reality.

Stewart Dean said...

And just as bad, the shit throwing against Biden, without any substance, gives people without a critical background the impression that Biden is a stumbling loser, that the economy is tanking, that jobs are scarce, etc. etc.....
Too many people think there must be some fire with all the smoke....or that Biden is a doddering fool.

Joe in PNG said...

Does this remind anyone of what would happen if someone ordered a Watergate Scandal from Wish? Trump is like Nixon, but without the competence, class, or love of country Tricky Dicky had.

Tam said...

Replacing the smoke-filled room with a year long reality show has, in retrospect, had disastrous results for our country.

Chris said...

I'd settle for cheap fission power. And slightly faster rail travel.