ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE
Or
The Democratic Party has Come to Town
I like John Kelso. He is with the Austin American Statesman and writes about the hot topics of the city but with a slant of humor and is often "right on target". Anyway, I get him. His recent article is entitled "Democrats should tell TV to buzz off and get debate tickets out to the people" (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/15/0215kelso.html ) It is about the democratic debate to be held here in Austin. He voices his opinion about the limited public audience that will be allowed to see the debate. There will be 100 tickets and tickets holders will be chosen by a "lottery". At last count there are over 40,000 entries; I am one of them. The remaining seats will go to elected officials and guests by special invitation.
I was extremely upset when I heard that only 100 seats would be available to the voting public. So upset infact that for the first time in my life I wrote a letter (by email) to the National and State Democratic party officials and a letter to the editor of our local newspaper.
Kelso relates that a smaller venue was chosen for the debate because it would decrease any audio complications. CNN is in charge of broadcasting the debate and according to them, if the size of the venue were increased then the poorer the sound quality would be during broadcasting. OK, I have to admit. Seeing the two delegates screaming at each other across podiums in Zilker Park (a larger venue) would tend to send the wrong message. But, Kelso has me sucked in now and I'm fired up. If it's all about how the candidates come off on TV then they should have gone to Hollywood. Right?
It is very easy to be emotionally pulled in to a news story, commentary, or editorial, especially when it hits close to home. After a good laugh I started looking into why the guest list for the debate did not include "the people". All of the "guests" represent the Texas delegates and superdelegates. The Texas Democrats divide up delegates in a multi-step process. The primaries count but the delegates that cast their votes count more. These are the people that are being wooed at the debate and whose vote ultimately can make or break a candidate.
Even though I have a better understanding of what's at stake I still don't like the fact that the voters, the American public, are not on the guest list for the debate. This is such an historic event and the excitement that it has generated is infectious and there are a lot of people that want to be a part of it. The general public should have been considered. An event for the "uninvited guests" (aka the voters) would have been nice. I realize there is an "after party" but the admission price is fairly steep. I wonder if anyone has taken note that this admission price leads to another group of uninvited guests, the economically challenged.
I think John Kelso hits the nail on the head in this commentary however, if you take a deeper look there are so many other issues at hand here than just the size of the venue and the limited guest list.
Or
The Democratic Party has Come to Town
I like John Kelso. He is with the Austin American Statesman and writes about the hot topics of the city but with a slant of humor and is often "right on target". Anyway, I get him. His recent article is entitled "Democrats should tell TV to buzz off and get debate tickets out to the people" (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/15/0215kelso.html ) It is about the democratic debate to be held here in Austin. He voices his opinion about the limited public audience that will be allowed to see the debate. There will be 100 tickets and tickets holders will be chosen by a "lottery". At last count there are over 40,000 entries; I am one of them. The remaining seats will go to elected officials and guests by special invitation.
I was extremely upset when I heard that only 100 seats would be available to the voting public. So upset infact that for the first time in my life I wrote a letter (by email) to the National and State Democratic party officials and a letter to the editor of our local newspaper.
Kelso relates that a smaller venue was chosen for the debate because it would decrease any audio complications. CNN is in charge of broadcasting the debate and according to them, if the size of the venue were increased then the poorer the sound quality would be during broadcasting. OK, I have to admit. Seeing the two delegates screaming at each other across podiums in Zilker Park (a larger venue) would tend to send the wrong message. But, Kelso has me sucked in now and I'm fired up. If it's all about how the candidates come off on TV then they should have gone to Hollywood. Right?
It is very easy to be emotionally pulled in to a news story, commentary, or editorial, especially when it hits close to home. After a good laugh I started looking into why the guest list for the debate did not include "the people". All of the "guests" represent the Texas delegates and superdelegates. The Texas Democrats divide up delegates in a multi-step process. The primaries count but the delegates that cast their votes count more. These are the people that are being wooed at the debate and whose vote ultimately can make or break a candidate.
Even though I have a better understanding of what's at stake I still don't like the fact that the voters, the American public, are not on the guest list for the debate. This is such an historic event and the excitement that it has generated is infectious and there are a lot of people that want to be a part of it. The general public should have been considered. An event for the "uninvited guests" (aka the voters) would have been nice. I realize there is an "after party" but the admission price is fairly steep. I wonder if anyone has taken note that this admission price leads to another group of uninvited guests, the economically challenged.
I think John Kelso hits the nail on the head in this commentary however, if you take a deeper look there are so many other issues at hand here than just the size of the venue and the limited guest list.
