Indeed, Mark C. Halperin '87, political director for ABC News, said his media outlet has stepped up its election coverage in anticipation of the Jan. 24 Iowa caucus and the Feb. 1 New Hampshire primary.

"The pace of how much [political] coverage on our broadcast is up, and we will continue to ratchet it up in the days before the two key contests," Halperin added.

But media hype cannot attract interest where there is nothing to be hyped, Patterson said.

"When the campaign is on the front pages and at the top of the newscasts, people will notice it. But they won't necessarily embrace it," Patterson said.

"To get that response, something big needs to happen. Nothing in these debates fits that description," he added. That's why Americans say it's been a boring and uninformative stretch of the campaign, despite the debates."

Marvin Kalb, co-director of the Vanishing Voter Project and the executive director of the Shorenstein Center's Washington, D.C. office, said apathy is particularly widespread among young voters.

"So far, anyway, there is no evidence of public interest or excitement about the 2000 campaign, especially among young Americans," Kalb said. "'Boring' and 'uninformative' are still the adjectives of choice."