Media's Obsession Creates Hype

By: Kelsey Knutson

In what seems to be, so far, one of the craziest presidential elections ever (one that actually hasn't even taken place yet) it must be said that everything is getting pretty old. However, what's new with that? Are we really surprised that the media takes something and runs with it? When hasn't the media come up with something and then run it into the ground?

The new obsession of the media with the current election is obviously Senator Barack Obama. However, do we really need the parallels between this current senator and the senator from Massachusetts in 1960? Patrick Healy of the New York Times printed an article August 28th dedicating the title, "Decades Later, John Kennedy's 'New Frontier' Speech Echoes," and the article to the similarities of former president John F. Kennedy and current Senator Barack Obama. However, what is the significance of this? Let us hear about Obama's policies, solutions, and ideas. Tell the voters across America about the issues of 2008 and not the speaking abilities of a president in 1960. Obama speaks of "hope and change" so let us hear about "hope and change." We've passed the "New Frontier" of President Kennedy and we've moved forward into another era. Obama's speaking abilities and rallying tactics are similar to that of John F. Kennedy, however, let us hear what Obama has to say now in 2008, not what Kennedy said in 1960. 

"Decades Later, John Kennedy's 'New Frontier' Speech Echoes." Lets leave it in that decade and respectfully silence those echoes; let us hear Obama.