Man of La Mancha, that's me

I lament, sputter, pout, throw pillows, and stomp my feet like a truculent kindergartener over people's reluctance to become better informed citizens before rendering political judgments or voting. On this score, I am like the Man of La Mancha because I'm clearly tilting at windmills. (Besides, someone has to keep Don Quixote company besides Sancho.) Behold this story from Joe McGinniss (author of the new Palin book, The Rogue), as related by Sam Tanenhaus, the editor of The New York Times Book Review. In 1968, McGinniss, then a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, described an serendipitous encounter at a campaign stop for Robert F. Kennedy. Per Tanenhaus, McGinniss said: “I stood out there in the crowd, and he was in the open car waving to thousands and thousands of hysterical people. And he spotted me. I was tall, standing close. He said ‘Come on up here.’ ” Kennedy said, “I just want you to see what this is like from my side. ...They keep telling me talk about the issues. You think these people care about the issues?" RFK's wry point, McGinniss recalled, was that the crowds "were there because he had a star quality, and that was back in 1968.” Clearly, not much has changed in 43 years. We prefer to suckle at the breast of stardom rather than evaluate candidates or politicians on the merits. Tanenhaus quoted McGinniss as saying, “I don’t think you can be a national politician without having qualities of the entertainer about you because you’re not going to connect with the public. Their palates have gotten jaded.” Yes, a pity that. Does anyone else besides the crazy Don and I see the problem here?