Hottest ticket in Hollywood

Everyone prepared for John Edwards’s participation in the Democratic presidential debates on Thursday. CNN had built a desk with three places for the candidates to sit while on stage, and the California Democratic Party had Edwards’s silhouette, along with Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s, on their credentials for the event. So before Wednesday, when Edwards, the last white male left in the Democratic race, dropped his bid for the presidency, it seemed as though it would be just your average debate – except for the fact that it would be held in the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood with A-list stars in attendance.

Steven Spielberg, Diane Keaton, Stevie Wonder, Rob Reiner and Pierce Brosnan were among those on the glamorous guest list – and they all had fabulous seats. So naturally CNN’s camera people couldn’t help themselves, and, as a story on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews pointed out the next day, the show’s director cut away from the candidates on stage to the faces of celebrities 19 times and only showed elected officials who were in attendance four times. (Aside from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, most politicians had seats in the balconies, while stars mainly occupied the front-and-center section.) One can imagine it was hard for many viewers, who may have tuned in during this Thursday night primetime broadcast in lieu of their favorite shows that are on hold due to the writers’ strike, to concentrate on listening to the candidates drone on about health care and the Iraq war when images of their faces were alternated with those of America Ferrera and Jason Alexander. Many news stories on Friday, if they weren’t about how nice Clinton and Obama were to each other, were full of famous names, along with their corresponding pictures. Instead of focusing on the impact of the loss of Edwards in the race, people joked that the Kodak seated more stars for the debate than it will for the Academy Awards later this month.

But it seems CNN set it up this way, for the network missed the chance to capitalize on selling the debate in a way that no other debate can ever be sold: for the first time in presidential history, no white male would be on the stage telling the American public why he would be the best man to serve as the next president of the United States. And even when the event was upon him, Blitzer made no attempt to seize the historical moment. Standing on the stage that has been the site of the Academy Awards since 2002 and speaking to the star-studded audience before the event went on the air, he took a stab at being an entertainment, instead of a news, host. “I’ve always wanted to say this,” he said in the midst of light and seemingly rehearsed conversation that was void of talk about the upcoming debate, “and this is the place to say it: and the Oscar goes to…”

His script once the show started, which will forever introduce the first time a woman and an African-American have alone gone head to head for a presidential nomination, fell just as flatly frivolous: “…And here inside we’re at the Kodak Theatre in the midst of glamour on this stage. This is one of the great stages of all time. It’s where the Oscars are awarded, but get this, right now this is the hottest ticket in town.” Granted, he did note that “what happens here tonight could change the course of this presidential race and the nation,” but he failed to point out that just by walking onto the stage and taking their seats, Clinton and Obama would already be changing the course of our nation.

Perhaps Edwards dropped out too soon before the debate, and CNN didn’t have time to fix Blitzer’s script amidst making sure Leonardo DiCaprio had a fifth-row seat, but it is sad that the network, along with many other media outlets, missed the historic significance when faced with all the glitz the location brought. A contemporary viewer may find it hard to revel in the excitement of the debate’s impact when the images of Clinton and Obama cut to the faces of Topher Grace or Bradley Whitford, but perhaps the memories of these actors will fade, their popularity will die out, and we will be left with a portrait of a moment of progress in our country.