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The 'Hidden' Election
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12081 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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12 / 1987 |
2,629 Words |
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Gerald Pomper
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A lot will happen politically in 1988 - but nobody may notice. The presidential race could be a watershed, but the election rains could disappear underground while everyone is waiting for the sun.
In the next hectic year, we are likely to see a lot of attention paid to individual candidates and their unique traits, ranging from their academic to their sexual performances. As we watch in open or secret fascination, we may well miss the really significant stories of 1988. This election will mark a generational transfer of leadership, determine a new agenda for the nation, alter the system of presidential campaigning, and test the reality of political party realignment. But all of that is in hiding.
Hiding is actually the best description of the election so far. The single most dramatic event was the withdrawal of Gary Hart, caused by reporters hiding in the shadows of his home to investigate a romantic tryst. Prospects for the Republicans were damaged by the hidden transfer of funds from Iranian arms sales to the Contras in Nicaragua. Hidings from the voters are potential candidates of high quality, such as Sens. Bill Bradley and Sam Nunn and Govs. Mario Cuomo and George Deukmejian.
The 'open' election
Paradoxically, the significant election is hidden because of the apparent openness of the contest. Candidates enter and leave the race as easily as cars move on an interstate highway - no toll collector, or party boss, bars their way. As of this writing, there are a dozen avowed candidates in the two major parties, but just as many politicians have seriously considered, declined, or withdrawn their candidacy. The multiplicity of candidates brings confusion, forcing voters to look for simple cues to comprehend their choices.
The mass media especially stimulate this openness. It has now become legitimate to investigate all aspects of a candidate's life, on the supposition that anything - whether directly political or not - is relevant to a judgment of his "character." We can expect to learn still more about the candidates' - and their spouses' - health, mental balance, finances, sex life, and academic honesty, not to mention their speechwriting and tear ducts. Woodrow Wilson once worried that excessive campaigning demands would limit the choice of presidential candidates to "wise and prudent athletes - a small class." Intensive examination of candidate traits may limit the field even more, to those athletes who are both competent and dull - an even smaller class.
The focus on individual candidates makes good media copy. It even makes good sense, in part because the presidential office is itself highly individualistic. A person's integrity, judgment, and competence are clearly important. But an election is more than a choice of a man (or even a woman). By intense open examination of the candidates, we become likely to forget that the choice of a president is a historic event. The deeper significance of the 1988 election lies in the likelihood of its considerable historic impact.
The new generation
Whoever is elected next November, there will be a striking transfer of power to a new generation. The new president may be only
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