Here’s the thing: If the public displayed an appetite for these things, the businesses would cater to it. Instead, readers demand more comic strips, horoscopes, recipes, movie listings, gardening tips, "human interest stories," "good news," and so forth.

At the same time, though, the incredibly tiny minority of us who are interested in public policy have more ability than ever in human history to get that information in as much detail as we want, as often as we want, and at a time that is convenient to us. That’s a pretty good trade-off.

John Edwards, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Mitt Romney, and the others lost, not because the press didn’t cover them properly but because the public looked them over and didn’t see them as "presidential." It’s probably true that most people couldn’t tell you much about the health plans of these guys. But, really, who cares? There was never much chance that these people would be president. Why waste your time reading their white papers? 

During a blogger conference call last week, Jen Rubin of Commentary's excellent Contentions blog, asked Sen. McCain about Hamas's endorsement of Sen. Obama for the presidency. Did McCain get indignant? Did he spew that an insinuation that Obama might be popular with Islamic terrorists would be "out of touch with reality in the Republican Party"? Not exactly.

He said: "All I can tell you Jennifer is that I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. So apparently has Danny Ortega and several others. I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas's worst nightmare.... If senator Obama is favored by Hamas I think people can make judgments accordingly."

The Hamas endorsement of Obama, while understandable, was unsolicited; Wright, on the other hand, is someone with whom Obama was tight for two decades and who Obama chose to incorporate in his campaign as an advisor. Why does McCain figure the former is fit for criticism but focus on the latter is an occasion for smug condemnation of conservatives.