In thinking about the new/old politics dichotomy that has appeared in full bloom here at BoB, it occurs to me that it is a distinction without a difference. Here’s why: There can be no “new politics” (whatever the hell that means) until there is a new media. Until the media is either shamed or regulated into covering issues, encouraging real discourse instead of focusing on flag pins, a radical pastor, and a shrewish persona, we’re going to get “good television.” Good television is Jeremiah Wright dismantling Obama at the worst possible time. Good television is replaying Hillary’s tears over and over again. Good television is asking knuckle-walking rednecks whether Obama is a Muslim. Good television is basically non-partisan, but one party seems to know how to manipulate it much better than the other. Good television drives ratings. Ratings drive ad dollars. Ad dollars make the media world, and your world, go round. The media has a bias alright–it always seeks the blood sport.

This is why I was so disappointed with Obama in the Philly debate when he missed the opportunity to step in front of the lectern and shame Gibby and Shepho for asking such inane, irrelevant and clearly biased questions. If he had done so, THAT would have been evidence of “new politics,” i.e., a candidate taking control of the media in service of the voters. Instead, he’s caught between his promise of a better way and the reality that he’s descending into a street fight he doesn’t want and can’t win no matter what he does.

Watch what’s happening now with the good Reverend Wright. Wright is dominating the news cycle today and will do so for the rest of the week, if not all the way through the General if Obama is the nominee. Obama’s response? Not much. Think that brushing this off his shoulders is going to make this go away? He has to prove his shoulders are big enough, first. And he hasn’t done it. This is his challenge and it’s as much a media issue as it is a character concern. You and I would think better of popping someone in the chops at the slightest indication of a conflict. In the media, because of the nature of the coverage and the media’s vampiric need for blood, failure to resort to the smack-down is a sign of weakness. Just ask John Kerry. You’re looking at a pivotal moment in the ‘08 election, right now.

The bottom line is that if you want new politics, don’t expect your candidates to deliver them. They can’t. Change the media. Work to restore the fairness doctrine and with it, the obligation of every broadcast television and radio channel to provide free, even-handed news and opinion as a condition of being granted an FCC license. It worked brilliantly until Reagan ditched it and restoring it would go a long way to restoring spirited dialog about things that matter. Until then, it’s all smack down, all the time, much to our detriment.