Are you paying attention to the crisis over whether the United States will default on its debt and the contentious debate over how and how much to reduce the role of the federal government in the economy? You should be. No issue is more fundamental for the future of the country. Also, there is no better way to understand how politics and government work–or don’t work–which after all the concern of the majority of working journalists.
More immediate may be the answer to this question: What would do you next month if you were assigned to localize this story for your craft class? Here is how the Associated Press handled that assignment in NYers frustrated, angry as debt showdown drags on. This isn’t a very sophisticated story but is a typical example of the man-in-the-street genre.
I think the article becomes a bit more valuable towards the end, when we see the Buffalo school principal opining on causes and solutions. I’ve seen plenty of articles in which the interviewee says, “Washington needs to compromise.” I’m not sure exactly how much these articles contribute to the national dialogue.
I think it might be more interesting to speak to Americans about how this showdown has influenced their likelihood to vote in just over a year’s time. The polls I’ve seen show President Obama coming out about 10 percentage points ahead of Republicans in terms of who is to blame for the impasse, with Democrats being blamed least. Polls also suggest that a majority of Americans are in favor of a combination of revenue-raising and spending cuts. A tax raise-only approach comes in second, and the fewest respondents are in favor of spending cuts only. This doesn’t seem to bode well for the Republicans come 2012. I’d particularly be interested to interview independents on this subject.
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