With just five episodes left before Election Day, WAMU’s “Politics Hour” program only managed carve out 25 minutes of airtime to devote to a debate between D.C. Council Member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and her Republican challenger David Hedgepeth.
This might be understandable. Space must be tight, as it’s a mere four weeks before Election Day. In 2008, the American University-based public radio station expanded the scope of its long-running “D.C. Politics Hour” to include coverage of Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland politicking. So, with a a surfeit of local election races to cover around the Washington Metro area, there’s no dearth of down ballot contests that could use a little attention to help busy voters make a more informed decision at the ballot box.
But that less than half an hour of commercial free broadcasting dedicated to a single D.C. council race was the entirety of the “Politics Hour’s” time devoted to Election 2010 coverage. Even with five minutes sliced off at the top of the hour for a news update, that is less than half the show. WAMU is public radio station, whose mission is public service, to give air time to subjects that don’t garner enough time on commercial stations. In the District, more coverage might spur more folks to the polls, sending a signal about how hungry D.C. residents are for full-fledged democracy.
Back when the show was still the “D.C. Politics Hour,” it wasn’t much better at offering in-depth D.C. election coverage. Then co-host Mark Plotkin (now ensconced at newsradio WTOP) would less “analyze” or “comment” upon District elections or D.C. council sessions than agitate for D.C. voting rights. He would hector listeners and talk over guests. He was less interested in shedding more light on District elections and thereby celebrating the limited Home Rule that D.C. residents enjoy, than railing against the unelected “Control Board” imposed by Congress to rectify Marion Barry’s executive mismanagement. More time was devoted to who was who in District agencies than the debate echoing in the council chambers at the Wilson Building.
Activists wail month after month about the District’s denial of full voting rights, but every other November, another election rolls around and the District of Columbia yawns. District residents snooze through most September primary seasons, too, though this year’s heated Fenty-Gray debate was a much welcome, exciting exception.
Within the time constraints, the ground rules for the Ward 3 council debate were tight and strictly enforced. The hosts could jawbone as long as they liked in guiding the subjects of debate, but host Kojo Nnamdi solemnly stated that “we should advise the candidates we will ask you to limit your responses to no more than 60 seconds or so, and at the end of it, each of you will have one minute to make a closing statement.”
The conversation did allow Mary Cheh to offer a vigorous defence her spurning of Adrian Fenty in the primary even as four out of five of her fellow Ward 3 Democrats turned out to offer the mayor a vote of confidence, but co-host Tom Sherwood spit out her argument before Cheh could take the mike.
(This is a minor disappointment from Sherwood, a veteran of three decades of D.C. political reporting and analysis, whose deeply informed background usually brings more to the table.)
But the hosts wasted precious moments on the unnecessary – but obligatory in their minds – razzing of Republicans for wasting everyone’s time by even taking a stab at electoral office in the overwhelming Democratic city.
Hedgepeth’s pre-primary endorsement of Fenty was designed to step up a competitive general election battle, and test the depth of Cheh’s popularity – who was unchallenged in the primary – in the still Fenty-fervent ward. To take that gauge, this race is worthy of coverage, to see if Hedgepeth and garner more votes than previous Ward 3 Republican vote totals.
And what more pressing issue did the “Politics Hour” cut off the Cheh-Hedgepeth back and forth in favor of? A new law in the Free State banning hand-held cell phones on Maryland roads. Ugh, ‘lifestyle’ politics.
Having shown candidates on D.C.’s ballot the door, Nnamdi and Sherwood welcomed a flack from AAA Mid-Atlantic, and settled into a chummy chat, chuckling and lobbing softballs.
There are four episodes left. Here is to hoping the “Politics Hour’s” producers can pack the show with candidate interviews and election analysis, heavy on the D.C. coverage per the show’s worthy original. Save the cell phone chatter for those dark days in December.
(For the record you can peruse the transcript word for word, or you can listen to last week’s “Politics Hour” via audio file, but you will need to skip ahead to the eight minute mark for the debate start time.)
