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Let presidential race focus on candidates, not celebrities


Published: August 10, 2008

Let's hope the upcoming presidential election doesn't revolve around the merits of Paris Hilton's celebrity or, for that matter, George W. Bush's presidency.

In Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, the Republican and Democratic parties respectively have two independent-minded candidates, both of whom defied the odds in securing the nomination for president.

While they remain formally the "presumptive" nominees for now, the results of the Republican (Sept. 1-4, Denver) and Democratic (Aug. 25-28, St. Paul) conventions are foregone conclusions. Those events will serve primarily as a four-day advertising extravaganzas for the Obama and McCain campaigns.

And the candidates' acceptance speeches on the final night will serve as the kick-off for campaigns that have gone virtually nonstop for the past two years, but will be in high gear from then until Tuesday, Nov. 4.

McCain, a U.S. Navy veteran who was held captive during the Vietnam War, is by far the more familiar of the two. He has represented Arizona in Congress since 1982 and sought the GOP nomination once before, in 2000.

Obama has represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate only since 2004. He has presented himself as the candidate of change during a time many are desperate for just that.

Both candidates have demonstrated a willingness to buck the establishment of their respective parties. Since all but locking up the nomination — that came early in the process for McCain, somewhat later for Obama, who battled former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton almost to the last primary — both men have sought to modify their positions on certain issues in order to broaden their appeal.

But there remain stark differences between the candidates — on Iraq, tax policy, energy — that are bound to emerge in the debates this fall. Those events will take place according to the following schedule established by the Commission on Presidential Debates (all will run 90 minutes beginning at 9 p.m.):

r Friday, Sept. 26, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss; Jim Lehrer, PBS, moderator.

r Tuesday, Oct. 7, Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.; Tom Brokaw, NBC, moderator.

r Wednesday, Oct. 15, Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.; Bob Schieffer, CBS, moderator.

Neither candidate has chosen a running mate, although that decision is expected shortly. (A vice-presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 2.)

The polls taken to this point still show a great deal of uncertainly both within the Bay State and nationally over which one voters would like to see lead the country for the next four years.

It may still be summertime, but it's not too early to start paying attention.

As for Paris Hilton, she's enjoying the attention that's come her way since the McCain campaign ran the TV ad linking Obama's celebrity status with that of the hotel heiress.

And Hilton, one of the PR geniuses of our time, is not above offering a little political commentary of her own, telling viewers of her latest online video, "I'm not from the olden days, and I'm not promising change ... I'm just hot."