Would-be politicians in press focus on races

True, the Irish presidential campaign has become very interesting in the past 10 days. Martin McGuinness's entry into the field was an attention-grabber: will the electorate forgive the past of this reputed IRA hardman, now a peacemaker and good buddy of the Reverend Ian Paisley? And the almost-Lazarus-like return of Senator David Norris to the contest was also in the category of truth frequently outstripping fiction  . But before that, the media hysteria over a pretty dull race between pretty dull candidates was already hogging broadcast hours, webpages and column inches. The reason, I think, is that many senior people in the media are in fact frustrated politicians themselves. They didn't have the ego, the guts or the money to get up there themselves and ask the masses to vote for them; but they are fascinated by the process, and love tracking (especially the downfalls) of the politicians who are actually doing the business.