Seats Are Getting Scarce in the Republican Clown Car

Washington is Hollywood for ugly people: That snarky observation has been attributed to Paul Begala. Begala knows Washingtonians like he knows the back of his hand. He helped Bill Clinton to electoral victory in 1992 and now puts his political two cents in as a frequent commentator on CNN.

Political action: What does that mean in today’s United States? With less than 19 months to go until presidential Election Day on Nov. 8, any serious look at questions of budget, national security, poverty or immigration are impossible because Hillary bought a chicken burrito at a fast food joint in Ohio! Plus, it was given directly to her! Personally!

And thus the little community of Maumee became the focal point of the American political media universe for several days. Each and every aspect of the Clintonian burrito action was meticulously illuminated and breathlessly commented upon. Politico, the main go-to source for American political junkies, even sent a reporter to Maumee to do in-depth interviews with the restaurant’s staff.

That not only sounds absurd, it is absurd. And if you set sarcasm aside, it’s outrageous. What does the restaurant staff and its treatment of Mrs. Clinton have to do with anything? Is it possible for the American media to be that preoccupied with trivialities? Yes, and it’s due to an unfortunate development that began in the 1960s when the advertising world began to stylize the public images of candidates.

One of Richard Nixon’s image consultants was Roger Ailes, founder and head of the populist right wing broadcaster Fox News. No news outlet is seen by more Americans than Fox. On Saturday, Fox News covered a Republican event in New Hampshire on an epic scale, urging viewers to put conservative candidates in the White House.

Fox did so primarily with devious, personal attacks. Clinton’s campaign was “something out of North Korea,” complained Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham also added “I wouldn’t let John Kerry buy me a car, much less negotiate with the Iranians.” Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, complimented himself for buying his clothes at a discount store, citing the $1 sweater he had purchased, then accused Hillary Clinton of never having accomplished anything on her own. Rick Santorum swore he would never attend a same-sex marriage, even of a close friend. A few days earlier, Marco Rubio had opportunistically announced he personally disapproved of same sex marriage but would attend one if he were invited.

And what do Americans make of all this? Very little. A Pew Research poll revealed that 58 percent of voters admitted to disagreeing with at least one of the candidates. At the same point in the 2008 election, 68 percent had done so. And the much-vaunted voter rejection of political dynasties — Jeb Bush is the son of one president and the brother of another — was also not apparent; 75 percent of Republicans have no problem with Bush while 88 percent of Democrats have no problem with Hillary Clinton.

While the Republican clown car seems to be running out of seating space, America faces some very serious problems. California, the nation’s fruit and vegetable garden, is drying up. Coastal cities grapple with problems like increasingly powerful wind storms and rising sea levels due to global warming. A growing number of baby boomers are ready to retire, placing added stress on the pension and health insurance sectors. Income among those below the upper few percent that are wealthy is stagnating. China’s autocrats are reinforcing the coral atolls off their coast and turning them into naval bases. And what to do with the exploding orient?

Hopefully, they’ll soon replace the puppet show about how the candidates look and begin talking about things that really matter.