Bargain-shopping for next U.S. president

Picking through the selection of frozen foods at the convenience store, I searched for that neatly-packaged sale item that offered the quickest solution to my hunger.

A-ha! Pizza Pockets, only $2.69. I rushed to the cashier where I swiped my ATM card while impatiently tapping my foot. After speeding home to catch Jeopardy on TV, nearly running
down an old lady on the way, I realized I had selected a pizza with mushrooms. I hate mushrooms!

Ours is an express-lane culture that wallows in a pool of ignorance. The drive through, the quickie mart and the half-hour sitcom exemplify our inability to invest ourselves in our daily lives.

The debates are our convenience store for government leadership. Americans search for that defining moment on TV that will help them decide which candidate to vote for. Researching the issues or seek out the truth?

John Caldwell
How I see it

Unnecessary. Everything we need to select the most powerful leader in the world can be gleaned from an hour and a half of soundbytes. Undecided voters use television to shop for a personality they think is presidential.

Last Tuesday's presidential debate lacked any soundbytes with the potential to influence millions of voters. Gone were the wisecracks and witticisms. Gone were the attacks on character and morality.

Last Thursday's vice presidential debate was an unprecedented example of bickering sucked away by a newfound necessity for appropriate tone. For those who wished to remain ignorant of the facts, there was nothing to go on except a bland display of confidence.

Many Americans place the same value on their choice for president as they do in choosing fries or onion rings with their hamburger. The debates for them have been the perfect drive-up window at which to select from a menu of hollow statements.

Wednesday night, Al Gore and George "Wubya" Bush will sit at a table with Jim Lehrer in the second in a series of three debates. I will not be watching to learn about the issues and facts, or who has the best character. I have already researched those things, and I will base my vote on them.

I will be watching for a lack of defining soundbytes: those little wise-cracks that change minds. If there are none, I want to believe that some Americans will be forced to do more than just watch the debates before making such an important decision.

John Caldwell is a print journalism major at CSULB.