Susan Page

Ideas drive elections -- at least big elections like the one we’ve had this year.

You wouldn’t automatically know that from following the campaign’s course. Questions about inflammatory former pastors, lobbyists-turned-campaign-managers, verbal gaffes on the campaign trail and ads that stretch or break the truth often dominate news coverage and commentary. This is the eighth presidential campaign I’ve covered, and after each one I’m all too aware of the daily push-and-pull that shapes, and sometimes devalues, our political coverage.

When the nation faces perilous times, however, Americans look for innovative thinking and fresh approaches, and they manage to sift through the rest. That was true in 1980, when the nation was rocked by the Iranian hostage crisis and a stagnated economy. Then, voters elected challenger Ronald Reagan despite Democratic efforts to paint him as an aging former actor who was too conservative to be president. It was true in 1992, when many voters feared the American dream was slipping away amid globalization and the remnants of a recession. Challenger Bill Clinton won despite Republican efforts to portray him as the failed governor of a small state who was prone to bad behavior.