Ruben Studdard for president? That’s politics by the numbers

What do Americans care about these days? Just add it up; the numbers are telling when it comes to politics versus popular culture.

Consider this: John Kerry was recently christened front-runner by his win in the Iowa caucus, with 38% of the 120,000 caucus delegates. Now politicos are waiting breathlessly for next week’s New Hampshire primaries. New Hampshire Secretary of State William M. Gardner predicts that 184,000 Democrats and 116,000 Republicans will vote Tuesday; in 2000, with hotly contested races in both parties, 400,000 or so state residents, about half of the state’s registered voters, cast ballots.

On the national level, about 111 million people voted for president in 2000 -- a little more than half of the voting-age population, according to U.S. Census tallies. Which doesn’t begin to compare to the 240 million total votes Fox said it counted in the last season of the network’s hit talent show “American Idol.” Granted, Fox does allow people to vote multiple times, but still it indicates that Americans seem to care more about who can passably sing an old Bee Gees cover than who’s in charge of the world’s most powerful government. Catchy hooks and hip waggling trump policy and poll numbers any day.

“I believe people in this country are interested in the superficial,” said Silvana Diaz, 24, from behind the counter of the Ahh-Some Gourmet Coffee shop and Internet cafe in downtown Manchester, N.H. Diaz, a resident alien from Argentina, would support Howard Dean in the primaries if she were a citizen; she cast a vote for winner Ruben Studdard in the last season of “American Idol.” “I love that guy; he’s spontaneous,” she said.

Fox spokesman Steve Grogin puts a positive spin on the massive “Idol” vote. “ ‘American Idol’ is truly democratic,” Grogin said. “I think that the level of enjoyment that people get out of watching this show with their families and participating in the process is what makes this show so successful.”