Cassilis

An interesting piece on Politico yesterday on the increasing importance of entertainment media in the US presidential campaign. Clinton and Obama haven't entirely shunned the more traditional shows such as 'Meet the Press' or '60 Minutes' but their readiness to appear in more light-hearted tabloid format shows demonstrates the importance of independents to this campaign (not to mention the reach of these shows):

"Consumers of news and public affairs shows tend to “be highly informed partisans who have already made up their minds,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a University of Pennsylvania communications professor who has studied politics and the media. “Those who watch entertainment are more open to persuasion, hence the desirable audience.”

Being 'open to persuasion' politically is no bad thing in my book but it's important people are eventually persuaded by the right things. Entertainment shows rarely demand anything of politicians that's pertinent to the office they hold or seek - it's all about 'warmth', 'humour' & that awful modern political attribute 'ordinariness'. Have a look at the likely next President of the USA on Ellen back in October

Now imagine Gordon Brown or David Cameron dancing towards Paul O'Grady like that. Not pleasant is it? The other problem I have with politicians in this environment is that it's very easy for broadcasters to breach the spirit of impartiality rules. If you have one candidate on the show juggling naked in custard then a similar invite to all the others demonstrates your impartiality even if you know full well that it won't be taken up. I'm not suggesting broadcasters themselves are likely to exploit these things but any campaign manager worth his or her fee will - the Obama clip above was in October last year just as another round of 'Hillary's a robot' stories started to emerge so what better time to demonstrate the 'ordinariness' of your candidate?

Blair took stick for seemingly preferring the GMTV couch or Richard & Judy to Parliament and to his credit he acknowledged his ambivalence towards the place at his final PMQ's. The thing with Blair is that he was a natural performer in all settings - he could do the 'ordinary guy' thing on Parky, hold his own against Humphries etc. and turn in a powerful commons appearance (Iraq war debate for example). Despite his obvious intellectual gifts Brown does neither particularly well and while Cameron can do the 'ordinary guy' bit nobody would ever describe him as a political heavyweight.

It's always nice to have an opportunity to see another side to a candidate for office but it has to be balanced with what's important. MacMillan's 'hot, pitiless probing eye' still needs to shine on their political gifts and not just what's in their fridge...