"The president's No Child Left Behind is a disaster."
"Why doesn't he do more for Medicare?"
"Our jobs are going overseas."
"What about Iraq?"
These were all comments thrown about among a 20-member MSNBC "undecided voter" focus group I participated in during the recent Republican National Convention.
The accusations and rebuttals flew vigorously back and forth. Some panel members seemed to be rather entrenched in their view of the incumbent president - and in my mind, I questioned their "undecided" classification.
The debate would have been mentally stimulating if it were on the air, but it wasn't. No, the panel and all the TV workers were either waiting around, or frustratingly working on glitches in the system to get us on the air, with little or no success.
We were encouraged to use "one-word" adjectives to express our view of the national speakers and their messages, and that when we did go on air, to "be courteous, but vigorously jump into the debate. We need action for a good show."
Well, in a completely controlled environment, 180-plus man-hours in the TV studio, and who knows how many man-hours with the network, not to mention the thousands of dollars in expenses, to my knowledge we achieved only 33 percent success with airtime.
As I observed the workings of our "news" system, I could not help smiling to myself. I compared the complications, frustrations and limited success of this relatively simple, controlled operation to the gigantic task of governing a country of hundreds of millions citizens - along with the complications of greedy, corrupt and pampered politicians, an opposing political party, special interest groups, concern for foreign countries and the unimaginable glitches, flukes and Murphy's Laws that hinder all undertakings.
How anything gets accomplished in politics is beyond me. And for anyone to expect this president, or any president, to fulfill any goal, real or politically expedient, is beyond reason.
No, in my mind, God or Fate has more to do with this country's success of failure than any politician. So the one thing I do take seriously from both the Democratic and Republican conventions is the ending of most speeches: "God, please continue to bless America."
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Jerry Blanken of Hyde Park, who is retired after a 45-year career as a photographer, was a member of the Enquirer's first Local Voices panel.
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