GOP debate viewers set ratings record
Gee, maybe Americans are beginning to pay attention. Maybe.
The television ratings for last night's Republican debate in Florida show that 4.9 million folks watched -- 4.4 million on CNN itself and another 500,000 on CNN Headline News.
That makes it the highest rated primary debate in cable news history, surpassing the previous record-holder of only two weeks ago, the Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, which drew 4 million. Reviews of the debates differ as shown here and here as eight people per party argue over what they thought they heard their opponents claim and attempt to draw divisive partisan distinctions foreign to the everyday lives of normal people.
But what seems to be happening is that the audiences have more than doubled since the early debates a few months ago. Candidates have become more practiced and argumentative. Media coverage has increased. The end of college football's regular season has left many passions pent up. And the start of balloting approaches almost as quickly as the shopping days left until Christmas dwindle.
It would be comforting to think that as American and other troops struggle in Iraq to bring stability sufficient for an infant democracy to maybe survive there, the folks living blithely back home were informing themselves on the choices they can make when the voting they've taken for granted all their lives occurs peacefully as scheduled this winter -- and most of us don't bother to participate.
But then we checked the population clock on the Census Bureau website. At last check tonight we had an American population of 303,486,444 542 748. Which means that slightly more than 98.4% of the country was not watching.
--Andrew Malcolm
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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It is troubling that more Americans do not participate in our political process.The presidential primaries present a tremendous opportunity for Americans to make their voices heard.A a pro-life voter,I plan to do just that in my state's primary on February 5.There are many fine candidates in the presidential field who believe in the right to life.Our nation needs to have its citizens involved in the democracy in order for the country to function correctly.Many Americans gave their lives for the right to vote and we should exercise that right.
Posted by: Shawn M. Hussey | December 01, 2007 at 01:47 PM