We know what the campaign press, in general,is doing with its time now, today, thirteen days before election day. But what should campaign reporters be doing? What could they be doing? Katia will have some suggestions for aimless reporters later today at Campaign Desk.
Meantime, one decent example of what productive campaign coverage can look like even at this, the election’s eleventh hour. The New York Times‘s Kevin Sack today takes a closer look (with help from some “health economists”) at the candidates’ health care plans (specifically, at some of “the authoritative-sounding statistics about the money they would save and the millions of Americans they would cover.”) Writes Sack: “A number of economists said voters would be wise to simply tune out all of the competing numbers and focus instead on the philosophical underpinnings of the candidates’ plans.” (Which sounds like a story idea for some listless campaign reporter!)
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.