Thursday, October 2, 2008

Pete Dominick is NOT a wrestling pundit

Pete Dominick is a political talker who buys the analogy that punditry is not unlike wrestling. He just doesn't want any part of it.

Pete knows wrestling. On his show he's mentioned his brush with fame, meeting 80's wrestling star Junkyard Dog in a queue. You can tell Pete is an old time wrestling fan because he still refers to the fed as the "WWF" even though it changed its name to "WWE" in 2000.

Samples of Pete Dominick referencing wrestling below:
- Listen to a compilation of Pete referencing wrestling on his show
- Listen to a long snippet of Pete talking wrestling and Bill O'Reilly. A good primer for those unfamiliar with Pete's voice

Pete doesn't fit the standard template of a pundit. He isn't strident or combative, instead he is humble, curious and inquisitive. He also doesn't buy into the binary notion of politics, putting no weight behind and showing genuine bewilderment towards labels like 'liberal' and 'conservative'. He doesn't believe in party affiliations and the two party system, he frequently champions the consideration of third parties on his show as well as the merits of run-off voting. These are traits that make him unique amongst his talk radio peers.

The fact Pete is listed as an independent isn't the reason in and of itself as to why he isn't a wrestling-style partisan pundit. Pete's program resides on Sirius Radio's "IndieTalk" channel, he prefers to think of "indie" as standing for indie-vidual rather than indie-pendent. It's only fitting as the only other independent in the APF besides Pete is Bill O'Reilly, arguably the most wrestler like of all the pundits.

You can read more about Pete's views on Punditry from my conversation with him
- Introducing the newest APF Pundit: Pete Dominick

Below is an interesting exchange where a caller adopts the wrestling analogy followed by Pete distancing himself from the frame

PETE DOMINICK: ...Barack Obama why is he refusing to do these Town Hall meetings with John McCain...?
CALLER: I believe the Republican party love to fight in the trenches, Al Gore, John Kerry and Barack believe they can stay above it. They have this grand idea that the presidency is more than that... I don't see Barack wanting to fight. The American people are like "we believe in the WWF, American football and in your face style...
DOMINICK: Alright. You're probably right but don't include me in the WWF part of that.
CALLER: Me neither
DOMINICK: You know it's fake right
It's good too see someone recognize that Politics has become too much like wrestling. Moreover upon identifying it, aims to elevate the discussion and not engage within that frame.

With that said, Pete can't escape the Matrix. Watch him as a wrestler here.

Go to Pete's official Website
Get to Sirius Satellite Radio to listen to Pete's show
Find more about the Indie Talk channel on Sirius

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