Pundits are not always all-knowing
When watching the news on TV these days, whether it be from a major network like ABC, or a cable network such as CNN or Fox, most the time these days, you’ll hear some talking head giving their take on whatever the political topic is of the day. They make it seems as if their opinion is the Holy Grail of the pundits. While some are open minded to others’ opinions, most of the bunch don’t want to hear anything except what they have to say.
They are quick to give out their readings and predictions for the future of the electorate citing some partisan poll with skewed numbers and for the most part, they miss the mark of what is really happening within the political atmosphere. But after their predictions are wrong, they want to revise their stance and pretend like they knew this was going to happen all along.
When Senator-elect Scott Brown, R-Mass., recently won a special election for U.S. Senate, every pundit across the political spectrum dove in to give their analysis about what it means for the left, what it means for the right and everything else in between. There were even some talking heads propping up the idea of Brown running for president in 2012. Six months ago, Brown’s name could barely even get airtime and most people didn’t even know he existed.
It’s a similar case with the president. A few years ago, most people had no idea who President Barack Obama was, but once he got elected pundits like Democratic strategist James Carville is authoring books proclaiming that Democrats will have a solid political standing for 40 more years.
As much as the analysts want what they predict to actually come to fruition, most of the time it doesn’t because instead of being realistic about the future, they become spin machines and spew out what they and their party really wants to happen. Sure, political junkies (including myself) eat it up, but I think we have to step back and really look at the situation from an objective perspective. Investigate these issues and politics for yourself instead of listening to the pundits. Understanding it all for your own benefit is the only way to really make a sound decision in regards to politics and public policy. Just try it for a change.
Posted by Ian Bridgeforth
on Jan 29 2010. Filed under Opinion.
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