The fact is that politicians and cultural leaders have always played to the audience. Shakespeare wrote for the elite as well as the groundlings. But something was lost when the campaign migrated from the old hard news format to new media. But by choosing to appear on talk shows, and having their own home pages, the candidates and the political process circumvent the scrutiny of journalists. Journalists know what they want to ask, are up to date on the news, are rational.
Talk shows are less timely, mawkish and more emotional.
That's the level of the dialog on talk shows. Modern technology has created a know-nothing populism. Modern communications has placed a bizarre form of political power in the hands of talk show personalities. In a wired nation, the call-in programs present themselves as facilitators of power to the people. I believe we should take heed of the dangers of factional politics feared by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay more than 200 years ago.