Candidates get chatty on TV: Talk show constituencies

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Candidates get chatty on TV
Presidential contenders have new constituencies to work on: Tyras, Oprahs, Lenos, Stewarts and Lettermans.
By Matea Gold, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2007

....As the 2008 race steams forward, Obama is not the only presidential candidate carving out time to banter on television entertainment talk shows. Long regarded as less venerable venues than their hard-news counterparts, daytime gabfests and late-night comedy programs have emerged this year as essential stamping grounds for those seeking the White House.

September alone saw Fred Thompson break the news of his Republican presidential candidacy to Jay Leno, as Arnold Schwarzenegger did with his gubernatorial candidacy before. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) visited a diner with Ellen DeGeneres, Clinton's husband swapped healthy eating tips with Martha Stewart and John Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, confided in Rachael Ray.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who announced his own bid on "The Late Show With David Letterman" in February and then "re-announced" it on Leno last month, made his 10th appearance on "The Daily Show" in August. And Obama (D-Ill.) got arguably the biggest boost from a talk show appearance when he scored an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey in May.

"I think the talk shows will decide who is in the White House in 2008," said Bill Geddie, executive producer of "The View," who has lined up visits from Clinton, Obama and McCain. "There have been a hundred debates, and who's seen them? Voters operate on two fronts: 'Do I like this person?' and 'Do I agree with this person?' A talk show is the first step toward helping them decide if they like a person."...

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(Said Democratic strategist Chris Lehane,) "As politics has devolved into much more of insider-baseball, process-oriented coverage, these are the types of outlets that allow the candidates to connect and communicate who they are as people." One major draw: the shows' friendly environs, where the personal usually takes precedence over policy....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-et-poltalk29sep29,0,239486.story?coll=la-home-nation

[goodgd_yall]

1. Personality not politics

Not a good trend, IMO.