Pretty soon it will be the season for primary elections, when people actually get to vote for candidates. The problem for the punditocracy and the political press is, of course, that the period for actual voting in 2008 will be relatively short. Barring some unforeseen catastrophe, the nominees should be known by the end of February.
As a result, there will be lots of pages, screens and time to be filled by the time the actual election rolls around in November. It will be an eternity. There is the increasing danger the reporters and commentators could find themselves at the intersection of two of the country's most pressing issues -- electing a president and the fight against obesity.
It has become a ritual over the years that reporters from major metropolitan newspapers and the TV and cable networks must fan out over the "heartland" to take the pulse of "the real America." They will travel to old manufacturing towns in New Hampshire through farming communities in the Midwest in search of the "wisdom" of the people.
Of course, most of the wisdom comes from the simple folk who are approached in their native habitat -- the diner. Generally the truckers and farmers and merchants are sitting down to a hot cup of joe and some breakfast when they are set upon by the big-city hunters, traveling alone or in packs, who do their best to imitate foreign correspondents making their way through a strange new culture.
If they are invited to sit down, the big feet must of course partake of the native dishes, which of course will be totally fattening. You can't say no -- it would spoil the interview. The diner interviews, and there are some that occur at lunch or during dinner to be sure, is such a staple that an enterprising network could make some hay out of it for much of next year. Top Chef could tape a program or two using native ingredients cooked for the morning breakfast crowd. I can't wait for Padma to judge that one. Anthony Bourdain for his next series could lead a tour of famous political "heartland" lunch places. At least he'd really be into it, as he is into the famous mortadella of Rio.
Unfortunately, there's a deeper issue at work here, and it's not the quest the best stack of pancakes. It's why major news organizations, often headquartered in big cities, feel the need to head to the "hinterlands" to find the "mood of the nation."
It would be nice to have some explanation why the opinions of someone sipping coffee in the Maine Diner in Wells, Maine, are superior to those of someone sipping coffee in Artie's on the Upper West Side, or in the Pine Crest near Union Square in San Francisco, or in Dempsey's in Ashton, Md. -- fabulous breakfast places all.
There's nothing wrong with sampling the opinion from around the country, but it is wrong to imbue some of it with a mystical aura that makes some perceived wisdom deemed wiser than others. We shouldn't get all Shylockian here, but those of us not in the "heartland" do in fact bleed when pricked, laugh when tickled and die when poisoned -- as do people in Iowa or Arkansas.
Do editors send their charges out of town because people in urban areas are seen as better informed, or more involved with issues than those in small towns? That someone has taken the time to learn about what his or her government is doing shouldn't be considered a handicap when it comes to gauging public opinion. You are reading Huffington Post because you care about what's going on. Does that make you any less valuable as an indicator of public opinion, regardless of where you live? I sure hope not.
These days, there's not much of an excuse for someone not being up to date if they want to be, regardless of where they live. With the Internet, residents "out there" have access to the same sources of information as everyone else - albeit in many cases with much slower connection speeds. Not everyone has the time to read about FISA - but that applies regardless of where he or she lives.
Is it a case of exploring how different cultures view their politics? That could be why the Washington Post sends its reporters to sample communities along the Ohio border with Kentucky, instead of into counties in Maryland or Virginia where some of the same types of people might live.
If this traveling around is an anthropological endeavor, it might be fun to try these searches for the national soul in reverse. Have the Manchester, N.H., Union-Leader send a reporter to Seattle. Have the Des Moines Register send a reporter to New York. Let the urbanites be the species under investigation for a change as editors sent their scribes or anchors in search of the wisdom of the coasts. If nothing else, they will all find some new breakfast places.