Second Tier Candidates, First Rate Ideas

[babylonsister]

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=second_tier_candidates_first_rate_ideas

Second Tier Candidates, First Rate Ideas

Long-shot Democratic candidates are the ones taking a stance on many worthy, yet unsung, policy problems. Time for the front-runners to start paying attention.


Dana Goldstein | June 22, 2007 | web only


Every presidential election is accompanied by hand-wringing over the lack of seriousness in our public discourse. The editors of The New Republic declared the June 3 Democratic debate in New Hampshire "gimmicky," "absurd," and more like Candyland than chess. Surely fearing another Swift Boat-ing, The New York Times' Paul Krugman devoted one column to a demand for policy specifics from the candidates and used the next to flog media commentators who prize "authenticity" over political motives and goals. And everyone seemed to lament that Wolf Blitzer had more on-screen time at the debates than any candidate.

But there's reason to be optimistic. From Iraq to global warming to health care to immigration, the 2008 Democratic primary is shaping up to be dominated by substantive policy debates on issues that matter. The New Hampshire debate featured discussion on whether individual mandates are necessary to achieve universal health coverage (John Edwards: yes; Barack Obama: no), how realistic it is to deport 12 million undocumented workers (Joe Biden: completely unrealistic), and whether Democrats should support building a border fence (Biden: build a fence to keep out drugs, but not people -- sort of a head-scratcher).

But what about what's not finding its way into the debates and campaign talking points? The leading Democratic candidates have neglected to focus much attention on everything from traditional liberal priorities such as public education to seemingly intractable challenges like prison reform and drug policy; from correcting the Bush administration's shunning of international law to remembering that the United States rivals nations such as China, Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq in its use of the death penalty.

It is second-tier presidential candidates who are taking a stance on worthy, yet unsung, policy problems like these.

With an eight-person race seven months before the Iowa caucus, second and third tier candidates often try to position themselves as champions of lesser-known issues in the hopes of influencing the eventual nominee or even gaining a small electoral lift.. Ultimately, it's up to the frontrunners, with their power to influence media coverage, to discuss all the issues that matter. Here's some ideas from their competitors that they shouldn't ignore, and some advice on how to tackle these tough subjects without losing mainstream appeal.

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[redqueen]

1. Oh I hope I hope I hope people vote for IDEAS and not so-called 'electability'

this time around.

*crosses fingers*

[babylonsister]

2. In a perfect world... I do, too, but I have my doubts. nt

[madrchsod]

3. that`s the way it works...

the bottom pushes up the top