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5-13-19
We “rethink the week” with Dean Spiliotes, Professor and Civic Scholar at Southern NH University, and Stephen Pimpare, professor of public policy at UNH Manchester and Fellow at the Carsey Institute of Public Policy. We have a spirited conversation about: Joe Biden’s recent surge in the polls; the diminution in discussion about various candidates’ policy positions/vision for the future; and the way the media are covering all of the above.
Should the media give Biden so much free PR (the way it did for Donald Trump in 2016)? Should the media spend so much time following the polls (the “horse race”)? Or should it spend more time informing the public about the candidates’ policy positions (as well as their character and ability to “lead”)? Even if many voters don’t care very much about policy issues, should the media remind voters about how their interests/lives might be affected if any one of the various candidates become president? To what extent should the media “report on” (disseminate) Pres. Trump’s many tweets, and let those drive the public debate? Are the media being “played” by Trump, who is quite adept at saying something provocative in an effort simply to divert public (and media) attention from some other government action which is harmful/unpopular/self-serving/ or otherwise not in the interest of anyone other than “the 1%”? Do the media actually have the ability to affect public opinion on any of these questions?
We also discuss the administration’s threats (and actions) to engage the United States in a trade war with China and other countries, a war which could have terrible repercussions on American farmers, workers, families, and again, anyone other than the 1%. To what extent are Trump’s policies driven by his own business interests or those of his family and cronies?
Finally, we discuss the “generation gap” in American politics. Most millennials favor programs, policies and candidates that are quite different from the preferences of the baby boomers. How can any candidate — or the Democratic Party — unite these different constituencies (as well as minorities, women, labor and other traditional parts of the Democratic base) in a way that can defeat Pres. Trump in 2020? To the extent that voter turnout is higher among boomers than millennials, how can millennials get motivated to come to the polls in numbers sufficient for any Democratic candidate to win election?
