In a mammoth spread titled "October Democratic Debate: The Biggest Stage Ever," the NY Times reinforces its theatrical theme by asking, "The question headed into the CNN/New York Times debate on Tuesday night: Can anyone make a splash without being the one who ends up soaked?"
Nowhere in the Times article are issues such as gun control, Syria, or the scandal of U.S. fiscal irresponsibilty even mentioned, let alone the candidates' positions on each. "Health care" is mentioned on one journalistically cavalier occasion, but only as "one of the central issues of the primary."
And on it goes. Who will attack whom? How aggressive will this or that low-polling candidate be? Who can risk aggression? "Being the aggressor has yet to pay off in the primary debates," the Times muses. "Ms. Harris’s June confrontation with Mr. Biden resulted in a temporary high. Former housing secretary Julián Castro’s September attack on Mr. Biden’s memory seemed to backfire."
These, we gather, are the flaming issues of our day: "Remarkably few Democrats have confronted Ms. Warren so far. Will Mr. Buttigieg buck the trend?" Is there "political incentive for Mr. Biden to take on Ms. Warren more assertively"?
Missing from the Times' discussion of the theatrical front is the questionable presentation of a dozen candidates on stage. And yet the DNC's stacked-cordwood approach to tonight's "debate" allows lesser known candidates to expound — within the time limits imposed — on their policy positions.
For declining democracy's sake, might it have been a better investment of the Times' cyberspace to preview the candidates' assorted positions at some length? Below the main text there are the candidates' brief bios and major stands — but not nearly enough to inform or persuade.
Nevertheless, what's the principal theme of the primary contest — that singular theme we also read daily in the major press? Yes, of course. It's that voters don't much care about primary politics; they do care about where the candidates stand on sundry issues.
Well, they won't find it in press previews, which are dedicated to what voters want least, and what would most contribute to a revival of informed, democracy-enhancing competition.