Über "Deutschland sucht den Superkanzler" dachte ich vor ein paar Monaten noch laut nach. Nun wurde ich mal wieder von der Realität überholt: "The people's Candidate" startete im Herbst in Argentinien. Darüber aus einem Gespräch mit Peter Hudson (Economist/Newsweek, Buenos Aires):

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Now there's another program that seems unique at this point to Argentina. It's called The People's Candidate! This strikes me as yet a whole new advance.

PETER HUDSON: That's right. Argentine viewers are going to get a chance later on this year to vote between a number of contestants and the idea is that the eventual winner will go on and run for election to the Congress for Buenos Aires and stands a reasonable chance of getting elected purely on the basis of all the free air time that they're going to get during the course of the program.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: How can a TV show decide who goes on the ballot? Have they created their own TV party line?

PETER HUDSON: They have indeed created their own political party. In order to set up a party here you basically need a few hundred votes; with the number of people who've applied to the program, all of those obviously have to sign up to register the party. With those, they have a good start.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Do you know what the name of the party is?

PETER HUDSON: The name of the party is the Party of the People.

In den USA schläft man natürlich auch nicht und plant schonmal eine Show namens "American Candidate" die im Winter 2004 auf FX Cable Networks - einem Murdoch-Sender - anlaufen soll. Darüber aus einem Artikel beim Drudge Report:

100 candidates will start the series. During subsequent episodes, candidates will square off in numerous competitions, like debates. The number of semifinalists will be whittled down each week, based on live audience response and telephone/Internet voting. Each episode will originate from all-American locales such as Mount Rushmore or the Statue of Liberty. But the final episode of the series will be an "American Candidate" convention, held live on the National Mall in Washington around July 4, 2004! Viewers will determine the winning candidate from among three finalists. The series will be seeking "the Jesse Venturas of the world, finding messages people want to hear," added Kevin Reilly, FX's president of entertainment. "Hopefully, we'll find some very qualified civil servant who lacks a power base and maybe also a plumber from Detroit who (tells) it like it is." "It's like a cross between 'The War Room' and 'American Idol,"' producer RJ Cutler tells this weekend's Daily Variety.

Während man bei solchen Aussichten instinktiv die Hände vorm Gesicht zusammenschlägt und versucht, sich dabei möglichst KO zu schlagen, sieht so mancher in der Show gar eine Chance für die Demokratie. In einem Artikel (PDF) für den American Prospect äussert Ben Fritz die Vermutung, dass die Show angesichts "the mockery of democracy that our presidential elections have become" für viele eine erfrischende Alternative sein könnte, welche genau die Reformen des Wahlkampfes umsetzt, welche die Liberalen in den USA schon seit Jahren fordern. Ein Ende des Endlosen "Fundraising" der Kandidaten, was ja durchaus schön wäre, wird dort herbeigewünscht. Aber dafür die Kontrolle über den Kandidaten durch einen Sender? Na ja... Im Endeffekt rechnet Ben Fritz dem Fernsehkandidaten keine Siegeschancen irgendeiner Art für die Präsidentenwahlen aus, aber einen Einfluss auf die Wahl allemal - "Perhaps they'll realize that a little more drama and a lot less emphasis on fundraising could help create a stronger democracy -- and that a little built-in TV time can't hurt." It can hurt, da bin ich mir sicher.