The Icing on the Pig

So this morning was the AP Government test that I discussed yesterday. While I thought I was very prepared, the test was incredibly difficult. I thought that by reading the chapter and studying the review questions, I would have been properly prepared. But it was so much more than that. The essay had absolutely nothing to do with anything in the book, because the essay was this: Compare and contrast the Democratic and Republican platforms, as discussed at the 2008 National Conventions. Ok, did I miss something? Because the DNC and RNC that I was watching didn't discuss the party platforms in any other way than the vague illusions made to controversial policy. Which is why I found the top article on my internet homepage, "Obama 'lipstick' Remark Gets Republicans in a Huff" so ironic. Today was a lost day for Senator Obama, thanks to his lipstick snafu. If you haven't heard about Obama's reference to the time-old adage about the pig and the lipstick, let me tell you, you are not missing any national crisis. Basically, the Republican party was able to take a misguided comment by Obama and twist it to, essentially, throw off Obama's entire day. Rather than focusing on his main issue, Senator Obama spent his whole day say, "Why am I spending a day on this, when it is such an insignificant comment?" Meanwhile, McCain camp was able to push the issues, stay on course, and gain votes. I find the current situation so ironic, though, because Obama would not be a day behind in "pushing the issues" if he used the four days set aside specifically to do that. I learned that at national conventions, parties formulate the party platform. Why didn't I hear about it? If the convention meets to put out the unified party position, shouldn't that be the number one focus? So now, the media is again covering the lack of issue discussion, not the promotion. Am I seeing a pattern? Perhaps the media prefers to cover the icing and fluff of politics, but refuses to put out serious issue-based journalism. The focus of today was "Did Obama call Sarah a pig?" Obviously not. But, by drawing attention to the comments, the media and Obama made today a character day, not an issue day. It seems that more and more are going that way. So if I were to vote today, I might even cast one for Nader, because at least I know what he's planning to do.