2016 election is a chamber of secrets

Hacked emails, hidden cameras, hot mics — the 2016 campaign has revealed more secrets than a spy movie.

The intense focus by the public and media on these secrets has produced explosive revelations about presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and seemingly affected voter sentiment.

But the flood of hype can obscure as well as enlighten — in many cases it reveals no more than a voter or journalist would get by visiting a candidate's website and in some cases it even distracts the media and public from a close look at issues valued by voters.

Driving the attacks is a series of factors, from hyper-partisanship and the low approval ratings of Trump and Clinton to the rise of well-funded dirt-digging groups and even alleged espionage by the Russian government.

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Democratic and GOP operatives agree on one thing — rarely has an election left them more dispirited about their country and profession.

“It would be far better for the state of Wisconsin and the country if we weren’t focused in the final three weeks on distractions like vote-rigging and stuff like that and instead focused on the two candidates and their plans for economic progress," said Joe Zepecki, a Democratic strategist who worked on President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign and who currently advises the liberal group For Our Future.

"We no longer live in an era where we think things through," said GOP strategist Brian Nemoir, who has run statewide campaigns. "We merely react."

Some disclosures this year have made an impact:

•  A recording of voters being given inaccurate information about Wisconsin's photo ID procedure for voters led a judge to order Gov. Scott Walker's administration to look into the issue and improve the system. 
• Questions about a potential quid pro quo for Clinton were raised this week after hacked emails showed that FBI and State Department officials discussed in the same conversation changing the security classification of an email on Clinton's controversial private server and allowing more FBI agents to be stationed abroad.
• Trump's position in the polls has fallen following a recording of him by "Access Hollywood" in which he discussed kissing women and grabbing their genitals without their consent. 
• A video done by conservative activist James O'Keefe suggested that a liberal group might have transported partisans into Wisconsin for underhanded purposes.

Social media and the rise of opposition research groups like American Bridge on the left and America Rising on the right have helped to produce and spread these items.

But in many other cases, the revelations billed as bombshells have done little more than distract the public and an ever shrinking pool of journalists away from more substantive issues in the race.

For instance:

O'Keefe video. The same video taken by O'Keefe purported to break new ground by revealing that protesters against Gov. Scott Walker had been transported from Wisconsin to the Iowa State Fair during his short-lived presidential campaign. That was true, but not new: a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article quoted at the time a protester from Madison.

The group of demonstrators that day in Des Moines were only too happy to share the fact that they were Wisconsinites unhappy with Walker. Ironically, their presence that day appeared to strengthen the GOP governor's primary campaign message — that he was a principled conservative willing to face criticism for pursuing his policies.

Trump video. Though the Trump "Access Hollywood" video was new, it followed months of controversial public statements by Trump about women and reports by media such as the New York Times about women who said that he had harassed or demeaned them.

Feingold video. Another O'Keefe video of U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin, purported to show big news — that Clinton was willing to use an executive order to put new background checks in place on firearm sales at gun shows. That was both significant and true information — but it had already been available on Clinton's website for any reporter or citizen who could be bothered to look.

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That last point underlined the obvious — the 2016 campaign has seen more noise and less substance.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, for instance, has been highlighting positions on Wisconsin-specific issues by both Clinton and Trump. But these items don't always have the same appeal as a piece promising a bombshell.

Zepecki, the Democratic strategist, laid much of the blame on Trump, saying that he had run a fundamentally different campaign from that of GOP nominees John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.

Nemoir, the GOP campaign consultant, acknowledged frustration with Trump's undisciplined approach. But Clinton has also failed to capture voters with her campaign's more detailed proposals, he said.

"Neither candidate has driven a broad-based confident policy message," Nemoir said. "The race has been all about the competency and credibility of the opponents."