It's a Scary World. Don't Campaign Reporters Care?

You'd think that journalists would do a comparative analysis of what the three candidates had proposed for the U.S. military in the coming decade; what they could do, practically; and what the speeches might predict about national security during their presidencies. But no.

Sometime in the summer, I asked a major Washington journalist why we weren't seeing any rich comparative articles on foreign policy. He looked at me and said, "But you guys haven't done anything on foreign policy." I took a deep breath and recited the major speeches Edwards had already delivered. He thought a moment and then said, "You know, you're right." I implored him to write something substantive about our major proposals -- on global aid, national security, veterans issues and Iraq. He readily agreed. "I owe you guys a piece," he said. "I'll write it."

It never happened.

In November, I got a call from a major national radio program saying that they'd be doing a substantive piece on the candidates' foreign policies -- how they were developed and what the process revealed about the candidates' thinking.

Perfect! I thought. At last. I was in Iowa City and drove 45 minutes through blinding snow to a small studio for an hour-long interview. When the segment aired, my heart sank. It had changed into a quick-and-dirty recitation of a few policy proposals from all the candidates, Republican and Democrat -- not the substantive compare-and-contrast that had been promised.

We did see a few articles in a few places that knitted together, in a backward-looking way, the candidates' various statements on foreign policy. Michael Gordon of the New York Times did a good job with individual candidate interviews exclusively on foreign affairs.

But there were few deep contrast articles -- the sort of thing we'd see from columnists such as Paul Krugman on domestic policy. The stories we saw tended only to compare the candidates' foreign policy advisers, with the flavor of a fantasy baseball article in Sports Illustrated.

In the waning days of our campaign, Ari Berman wrote a comparative story in the Nation that was rich in detail (he gave Edwards only a couple of paragraphs, though he wrote that the former senator "paradoxically said some of the most interesting things during the campaign"). Berman deserves credit. But this was a small, elite, niche magazine -- not a major newspaper or, God forbid, a broadcast segment.

Just entertain the thought for a moment. What if, in the coming months, every major journalist who covers foreign affairs wrote one story that actually recounted what the candidates are proposing on a foreign policy issue. On the Middle East, or the developing world. On energy independence, proposals to help veterans, the critical role of global aid, denuclearization, or how we should deal with rising powers such as Russia, China and India.

These stories would tell us what the candidates have proposed and whether their ideas are silly or workable. They would quote experts and present tough criticism and fair praise. They would tell us something about the candidates' characters. They would illuminate the future and tell us something about the past.

Most important, they would give us insight into this most critical of decisions -- who should be commander in chief of the world's most powerful country in a time of war and a time of momentous choices.

Frazzled campaign aides are frequently desperate to know that what we're doing has meaning, and our lives oscillate between idealism about our work and cynicism about its limitations. Call me naive, but I still believe that what the candidates propose can and does make a difference.

History shows it. In 1959, John F. Kennedy was arguing that we had a "missile gap" with the Soviet Union -- and increased tensions with Moscow. In 1979, Ronald Reagan said that "negotiation with the Soviet Union must never become appeasement" -- and as president, he ratcheted up the Cold War. There are no guarantees, but what the candidates are saying about foreign policy this time around just might affect the course of history.

The media still have a few more months to play their part. It's time they step up to the plate.

michaelsigner@gmail.com

Michael Signer, a lawyer and national security consultant, is writing a book on democracy and foreign policy.