Ken Hall: Speculation a poor substitute for news

Joe Biden is going to Iowa.

Even if you love politics, this is the kind of story an old editor friend used to refer to as "a quarter-turn of the screw." It advances the narrative so slightly that even those who have to keep up with developments have a hard time justifying any space or time.

Yes, it is news of a sort because there is speculation, as there has been for decades, that Biden wants to run for president. Yes, anybody who seeks that job has to start with those caucuses in Iowa in the January of an election year. But couldn't national political reporters just make a note of the trip in some database and hope that should the vice president say something outrageously newsworthy — and with Biden, that's a bar already set pretty high — the local press corps will pass it on?

The same goes for speculation about that retired civil servant in Chappaqua, the one who might or might not be planning her own run for the presidency.

She has not done anything quite so bold and revealing as book a flight to Des Moines. Instead, she has let her friends and extensive political network feed the buzz, leading to endless rounds of speculation on cable news.

People go on those shows and say things like, "I'm convinced she may run."

Me, too, and I have no insider knowledge whatsover. So I'm thinking of applying for one of those cable jobs because I have lots of experience writing stories that seem to say something without really saying anything at all.

Try this:

The latest storm was among the most severe in recent memory.

You'll find phrases like this in lots of post-disaster stories by reporters with too few facts and too tight deadlines. You can't really disagree with it because who knows just how recent those memories were and which storms were among the included.

Much of the political speculation this far from the election has that same vague quality. I heard recently that Republicans were not only trying to sort out their own candidates, but also raise doubts about those Democrats who have been mentioned as possible opponents. Even if you didn't already know that, it still should come as no surprise.

Yet there was one political development last week worth noting because alone among all the rest it had real potential.

The head of the Republican National Committee is threatening to pull the GOP debates from CNN and NBC if they broadcast planned documentaries and miniseries on Hillary Clinton. That means we could find the Republicans holding all their presidential candidate debates on Fox. If the Democrats respond in kind, they might end up having all their debates on MSNBC.

I'm not alone in thinking that this is a great idea. Let Sean Hannity question the Republicans and Rachel Maddow quiz the Democrats. The parties will get candidates who clearly reflect their beliefs and we will get a clear choice come November.

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