The New Silent Majority

One of the great advantages of not watching cable news is not having to hear just how loud the noise machines can crank. There’s idiocy and then there’s idiocy at high volume.
But since it makes good teevee that’s what you get.
The rest of the county — the 300 million or so people who do not watch cable news — are no doubt a little figety watching all this.
We live in an age where the cameras belong to the cranky and those quick to offer an opinion rather than reason a point, or worse yet they twist whatever is happening to validate a long held view. Oh, and the rules of engagement say you can lie and probably not be challenged. Small wonder so many people are sitting it out.
The question coming up is just how silent the majority of people are going to be when they have their opportunity to vote. Will this poisonous atmosphere suppress turnout? Will the tens of thousands of new voters from 2008 return to the polls? How will campaign finance changes affect specific races?
This will be a test of whether the over-the-top rhetoric has sunk in — whether it is truly politically persuasive enough to make a difference or just froth and foam o’er much more real and powerful currents.