Campaign 2016 creates an opportunity for the media

With New York’s presidential primary upon us, candidates are engaging in a variety of staged activities aimed at winning votes in the race for the White House.

We see them sampling regional delicacies, cheering on area sports teams and name-dropping local officials and institutions. Such activities may in fact win some votes, but they are not the best way to choose the next leader of the free world. Instead of debating the pros and cons of eating pizza with a fork, we should be analyzing the candidates’ plans for the economy, education and foreign policy. But we don’t.

The presidential debates don’t need Jon Stewart

I enjoy and admire Jon Stewart immensely, but you will not find my name on the petition urging the Commission on Presidential Debates to select him to host a debate during the 2016 campaign.

It’s not that Stewart lacks qualifications to moderate an exchange between the candidates for the White House. As host of The Daily Show for 16 years, he interviewed some of the most powerful people in the world. He asks insightful, challenging questions that illustrate how well educated and informed he is on domestic and international affairs.

So why is a man with such credentials a poor choice to host a presidential debate?