Al Gore Blames the 2016 Election's Craziness on Television

“I think there’s a big wheel turning slowly and we’re now in a phase where our politics have been debased,” said Al Gore at the Washington Ideas Forum. “When our country was founded, our information ecosystem was formed by the printing press, and it had certain characteristics where individuals could easily enter the public square. The ideas were treated more according to a meritocracy. Television pushed the printing press off of center stage, and now—still—the politicians spend 75 percent of their money on 30-second TV ads. Political candidates have to spend three-quarters of their time begging rich people for money to get into the television square.” And then, said Gore, “human nature being what it is,” politicians wind up thinking more about the interests of donors than the interests of constituents.