I watched the Republican presidential candidates debate each other twice last week and then receive their “grades” in South Carolina on Saturday night. I tried to capture as much post-election analysis after watching my older son’s high school basketball game. Then I performed my nine to noon Sunday morning ritual watching my menu of talk shows: Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, The Chris Matthews Show with Chris Matthews, Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer and This Week (which is technically “last week”) with George Stephanopoulos. Somewhere during this routine, I thought “Hats off to the media!” This thought occurred to me mid-morning when someone was analyzing the upcoming Florida Republican Presidential Preference Primary and what it takes to compete here. The analysis boiled down to the observation that, thanks to myriad televised debates, a candidate’s limited campaign finances are less of a limiting factor in getting a candidate’s message to the voters. So, hats off to the media for broadcasting the Republican presidential candidates’ debates!
Hmmmm. As I reflected further on my kudos for the media, I questioned the accuracy of my proclamation. The following conversation took place with myself in my head:
Myself: On what basis can you justify your praise for the media?
Me: The media have taken the time for the past several months to broadcast the Republican presidential candidates’ debates notwithstanding the fact most of them stand accused of being left-wing liberal elites.
Myself: So the media get kudos for broadcasting the Republican presidential candidates’ debates notwithstanding their apparent bias?
Me: Well, because the media have given Republican candidates of all stripes an opportunity to be heard without having to spend lots of campaign money doing so, the media have, in effect, policed themselves and leveled the playing field against President Barack Obama’s eventual billion dollar re-election machine.
Myself: So, the media broadcast the Republican candidates’ debates because of their benevolence and fundamental sense of fairness?
Me: Hmmmm, not really. The media broadcast the debates because tons of people are watching the debates.
Myself: So, the media are broadcasting the debates because tons of people are watching them? Shouldn’t you really be saying “Hats off to the tons of people?”
Me: Yes. Hats off to the tons of people! Yes, literally and figuratively, and maybe even literally on a per capita basis at some point in the not-to-distant future. But I digress.
Myself: Whenever tons of people are focused on something, aren’t there usually masses of advertisers who want to sell the tons of people something and who will give good and valuable consideration to the media for the privilege of advertising their goods and services to the tons of people during the Republican presidential candidates’ debates?
Me: Well, I guess we have to compliment the masses of advertisers who pay the media to present commercials to the tons of people, thus providing the media the cold hard cash to retain the staff and capital equipment to broadcast the debates. Hats off to the masses of advertisers!
Myself: Are you done yet?
Me: What?
Myself: Are you limiting your praise to the media broadcasting the Republican presidential candidates’ debates and/or the tons of people watching them and/or the masses of advertisers displaying their wares during the debates?
Me: Ahhhhh. I can think clearly now my brain is on! I can see all transactions underway! (Kudos to Johnny Nash for the mental instrumentals. But I digress again.) Masses of supply and tons of demand freely meet in the capitalistic marketplace manifested in this instance in the form of the Republican presidential candidates’ debates. Hats off to free market capitalism!
Myself: Yes. Hats off to free market capitalism!
Me: Is there an echo in my head?
Myself: Yes. Hats off to free market capitalism!
Me: Gotta go! It’s time to watch the afternoon rerun of Meet the Press with David Gregory! Congratulations to Newt Gingrich on his smashing victory in South Carolina! And hats off to free market capitalism!





