Made for TV--capitalist elections
By Imani Henry
It has been said that if voting in the
capitalist elections really changed things, voting would become
illegal.
Historically, both women and African Americans waged a
struggle to win the right to vote. But the struggle for the
right to vote is ongoing, especially in the South. For example,
during the 2000 presidential election thousands of African
Americans were blatantly shut out from the electoral arena in
Florida.
The purpose of the elections is to maintain control by
fostering the idea that capitalism is a democratic system that
represents the needs of the people. But whether it's a
Republican or Demo crat, the president is merely a bureaucrat
serving the interests of Wall Street and multinational
corporations. None of the ills of capitalism--war, joblessness,
budget cuts or racist police brutality--will be stopped from
the inside of a voting booth.
Just as with any other product the rul ing class wants the
masses to buy, millions of dollars are poured into marketing
candidates through the corporate media. The masses are then
inundated with footage of these candidates surrounded by
everyday people at local diners or going from cubicle to
cubicle to shake hands with workers.
From the up-to-the-minute media coverage of the horror show
of the 2000 presidential elections to the three-ring "Tonight
Show" circus that was Calif or nia's recent governor race,
every attempt is made to suck the masses into this idea that
the system works. Distracting the working class and oppressed
communities from the daily misery of capitalism and subjugating
their fight in their class interest is the goal.
Lights! Camera! Action!
2004 presidential race
Last month, the electoral media frenzy officially began.
Reporters from around the country followed the Democrats vying
for delegates in first Iowa and then New Hampshire--both states
whose populations are over 90 percent white.
"Voters are getting far more information from the news media
than they get from the ads." (Associated Press, Feb. 2) The
candidates are trying to get as much free media as they can
quickly and cheaply, according to Steve Murphy, who was Dick
Gerphardt's campaign manager. It is free exposure that's even
more valuable to the Democrats now that the campaign for the
White House has become even a worldwide event.
What is glaring is the racist white-out of the Rev. Al
Sharpton's campaign in the national media. Sharpton, an African
American, is the only candidate to not only demand that U.S.
troops be brought home from Iraq, but he has also stated that
he would officiate at same-sex marriages.
The media censor what little national coverage Sharpton does
receive. Last December, the four NBC affiliates in Iowa refused
to air the broadcast of him hosting the television show
"Saturday Night Live." Tim Gardner, director of creative
services at WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa, said station lawyers
decided that airing the 90-minute show would trigger federal
equal time requirements.
No talk of "equal time" has come up for the white candidates
who have each appeared on national talk shows from Comedy
Central's "The Daily Show" to NBC's "Today Show" in the last
month.
Sen. John Kerry, the current Demo cratic candidate front
runner, has his own private fortune. He plans to spend at least
$750,000 on TV ads in the upcoming period. It is estimated that
the Democratic candidates have already spent a total of $20
million on television commercials in Iowa and New Hamp shire
alone.
President George W. Bush is expect ed to raise more than
$200 million for his campaign. But when you're president, free
air time is not an issue.
On Jan. 20, Bush gave his State of the Union address. In the
first half of his speech he glorified the neo-colonial
occupation of Iraq and called for an extension of the
repressive Patriot Act. He publicly acknowledged the presence
of Iraqi Governing Council head Adnan Pachachi, who was
handpicked by the U.S. occupiers.
On domestic issues, the president called for continued
privatizing of health care. Bush, who was responsible for the
execution of 152 people as governor of Texas, also laid out
plans to provide job training for newly released prisoners.
Similar to his recent announce ment on U.S. immigration policy,
this proposal would further super-exploit ex-prisoners and
benefit the prison-industrial complex. If Bush hadn't raised
these two proposals, there would have been no mention of jobs
in his speech.
If you flipped from channel to channel, with the exception
of C-Span, you saw that this live broadcast featured identical
camera angles and close-ups on audience members. Some stations
had captions so you were made aware of the cast of
characters.
When Bush talked about immigration, there appeared on camera
Attor ney General John Ashcroft. After a long tirade against
gay marriage, anti-gay zealot Sen. Rick Santorum got his
close-up. Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots,
was shown after Bush mentioned the use of steroids in
sports.
In contrast, the media downplayed the tepid applause coming
from emotionless-looking soldiers in the audience, who just
returned from the Middle East. To no one's surprise, Bush said
nothing about the over 500 troops killed in Iraq and the
thousands wounded. In demagogic style, Bush did pledge to see
an end to this war and for all the troops to come home.
Reprinted from the Feb. 12, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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