Keller @ Large: Long Way To Go In This Election
BOSTON (CBS) - One thing we in the media are sometimes not very good at is providing perspective, the long view. So let me offer a bit of that on the presidential race.
We are almost exactly eight months away from Election Day.
Eight months ago, on July 9, 2015, Jeb Bush was the runaway leader in the Republican race, followed by Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and Rand Paul. Languishing in seventh place with seven percent of the vote – your current frontrunner, Donald Trump.
Eight months is a very long time in politics. Anything can and will happen, and issues that are off our radar today could be front and center in the fall.
As late as November of last year, terrorism barely registered in a Gallup poll asking voters what they thought the most important issue facing the nation was. Foreign trade issues didn't register at all; Tuesday night, it appears concern about trade was a major factor in Bernie Sanders's surprise win in Michigan.
Unexpected events can dramatically affect a campaign.
Consider the impact of, heaven forbid, another major terror attack on our soil or that of an ally. And it doesn't need to be something as dramatic as that. What if the economy were to run off several strong months of job and wage growth along with continued low gas prices? How would that change voter mood?
And speaking of voters, for all of the attention paid to the primaries and caucuses, only a tiny fraction of those who will vote this fall have weighed in.
Who knows what the rest are making of it all?
Yes, perspective can be helpful.
Maybe we should try to seek more of it.
Listen to Jon's commentary: