No wonder peopple don't participate in politics. Most of the political coverage treats it like a horse race, not a competition between ideas.

KQED's Forum program, which is usually pretty good at covering complex issues in depth, was an egregious offender today. The host and his guests talked for half an hour about the San Francisco mayor's race without once mentioning a position held by a candidate. They were ranked based on the polls, how much money they've raised, where they sit in San Francisco's broad political spectrum from kind of liberal to really liberal, and so on. But I learned nothing about the candidates that would help me decide who to vote for, unless my only interest is in voting for the expected winner.

William Saletan hits the nail on the head, but he's talking about national politics. It's a lot easier to find information about the presidential candidates and their ideas, though; they all have web sites and some even participate in interactive events, even if they end up mostly just repeating how great it is to participate without really saying anything.

For the mayoral candidates, it's harder to find this stuff out. The local papers don't help at all. And the mayor's policies actually matter in San Francisco.