New political show deserves at least a chance by Ryan Riley The Ranger Opinion Editor

I am one of the few people in the country and on our editorial staff who recognizes the fact that TV is an important and useful medium, whether it be for news, weather or entertainment. And no, you cannot believe everything you see on TV.

Just as you cannot believe everything you read in a newspaper or see at the movies or everything you hear from a friend of a friend. No matter what the medium, there always will be a kink in the system. But why is it that TV usually gets the worst rap?

In early January 2004, the FX network will start a show called American Candidate. The premise is simple. One hundred contestants, two from each state, will be chosen by a panel of presidential historians and other political pundits. From those 100, they will create a reality-based TV show that will follow the contestants as they "compete" in skills such as speech-writing, fund-raising and other presidential-related hoopla.

The winner of the show gets to decide whether he or she will run for president in 2004. If the winner decides to run for the office, then FX, a subsidiary of Fox News, will foot the bill.

The show is going to happen, and there is nothing we can do about it. I personally feel that it is a new and refreshing way to look at politics. I think the current two party system is not working. The type of people who are elected are rich white men who care about nothing more then becoming richer white men.

This show will better represent the American people, because let's face it: the American people watch television. And they don't watch presidential debates.

If the American people have a candidate they like and know, it could improve voter turnout. I think that it is a new way to get younger voters who are around the 18-year-old demographic to become more interested in politics. It is the ultimate behind-the-scenes look of elections.

Now at this point, everyone is saying, "This is a travesty and a mockery of democracy." Well, the way I see it, the current system is the mockery. The constant mudslinging is such a great compliment to our democracy.

We have two parties that control everything and, believe it or not, not everyone can run for president - only the people with the money. With this show, they are saying: "Are you poor? Do you love your country? Do you think you can fix it? Well, then come on down and be on our show. If the American people like you, we will pay for you to run for president."

I am not exactly sure what part of this is a mockery. Who will decide the candidate? The American people, with Internet and telephone voting.

Who currently decides the candidates? Uh, no, you don't say: the American people. How do we decide who runs for president? We vote in primaries to elect a candidate to run through a certain party. How is it going to be decided who runs with backing from FX? The American people twiddle the numbers down to one in a pseudoprimary system.

Besides, it is not like Howard Stern is producing or Britney Spears came up with the idea. It actually was the brainchild of an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker named R.J. Cutler. He was nominated for The War Room, which I saw and found interesting.

The War Room follows George Stephanopoulos and James Carville in their behind-the-scenes tactics that got Bill Clinton elected to the presidency in 1992.

I have confidence in this man and believe he is not in this to simply to make a "mockery" of our nation. I believe he has a message and is trying to put it out there.

It sounds just like every other presidential election. A big company with a lot of money gives it to some guy in the hopes he won't forget who got him there.

That would be the negative side of this. What is FX hoping to get? Higher ratings, of course. Not to rule the world.

Besides, if you don't like the idea of having a third-party candidate, then fine. Vote for either rich guy No. 1 (Democrat), rich guy No. 2 (Republican) or the other poor shmucks who don't have enough money to get their message out (Green Party and Libertarians).

Bottom line: fresh faces, new ideas, new outlooks. Change isn't always bad. The least we can do is give it a chance.