Talk shows reach more voters

Following President Bill Clinton's term, voters look at the election process and presidency in a different light. Fewer and fewer people go to the polls each year, proving the American public is turned off by sound bites and politics as usual. So in this election year, it stands to reason that presidential candidates have to go about reaching voters in a new and different way.\nEveryone seems to want to know how "human" the candidates are. It started eight years ago, when Clinton played the saxophone on "The Arsenio Hall Show." Before that, he was just the president. The fact that he could also play the saxophone made him seem like a cool, down-to-earth guy. Then came the Monica Lewinsky scandal, which made the president seem fallible. No longer was it "Mr. President;" now it's "Bill."\nVoters view the campaign and the presidency somewhat more casually, and hard news isn't always giving voters the answers they want. The presidential debates used to be a forum for the voting public to figure out where the candidates stood on the issues. Maybe the debates still do serve that function, but those forums alone do not reach a majority of the voting public anymore. So, candidates need to go elsewhere to reach voters.\nIn some cities, more viewers tuned in to watch the season premier of the presidential drama series "West Wing" than the first presidential debates, according to The Detroit Free Press. So how should candidates attempt to reach voters who are unwilling to sit through policy debates and sound bites?\nOne way to reach these voters is by appearing on shows the voters would be watching anyway. This election year, both George W. Bush and Al Gore appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "The Late Show with David Letterman," "Live with Regis" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show," among numerous other appearances. While some voters might be swayed simply because their favorite talk show host supports one candidate or the other, the appearances are a chance for the candidates to speak informally and let voters know more about them as people, not just as politicians. They can send their campaign messages at the same time.\nAs long as the free air time is available for candidates to reach audiences of prospective voters and supporters, they should take the opportunity to reach people who would normally distance themselves from politics and the elections. It doesn't lower the standards of presidential campaigns; it just gives the candidates another way to reach voters. As the American public becomes more and more apathetic about elections, the debates and campaign trail stops just aren't cutting it anymore.\nStaff Vote: 5-3-1