Where the Voters Are
May 25th, 2006 | by Ken Grandlund |In last nights American Idol finale, viewers cast over 63 million votes to crown the show’s newest winner. That’s right…63 million votes. According to show host Ryan Seacrest, that is more votes than any single presidential candidate has ever gotten. (I confirmed this myself. The closest was GW Bush in the 2004 election with 62 million votes.)
This says a lot to me about this country, that more people are willing to follow at least 8 weeks of television hopefuls in order to crown them ‘American Idol’ after which point they disappear into the morass of pop culture, offering little more than some pre-packaged pop tunes, than are willing to involve themselves in matters that could truly effect their lives, like electing honest and effective government leaders.
Perhaps, and I’m just postulating here, it’s time to move our political elections into prime time for a show of their own. At least that way, people might actually pay attention to who they are voting for.
6 Responses to “Where the Voters Are”
By The Cranky Brit on May 25, 2006 | Reply
Hmmm, having Simon Cowell ripping into politicians could be fun.
By ken grandlund on May 25, 2006 | Reply
Right-o. And then Paula Abdul can try to sleep with all the losers!
By The Cranky Brit on May 25, 2006 | Reply
Now that’s just unfair. What’s Paula done to deserve that????
By ken grandlund on May 25, 2006 | Reply
Okay, maybe a LITTLE bit unfair. I don’t watch the show, but several reports from friends and viewers who have say she seems to be, shall we say, not quite always all there. And there was that media storm a few seasons ago about the one contestant who claimed Paula and he were sleeping together. Of course, his claims came AFTER he was voted off…
By Paul Jordan on May 25, 2006 | Reply
That depends on what the meaning of “is”, is.
By ascap_scab on May 26, 2006 | Reply
Despite what certain politicians of the Chicago area may proclaim, you may only vote once in any Presidential election. You can vote as many times as you can get through at American Idol. So to compare the two is just a little misleading, doncha ya think??