Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and ex-Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson gave back-to-back keynotes at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas Thursday.

While opposing on many political issues, the former candidates agreed that the nation's political process, particularly how it is covered by the media, needs to change. Both said the contest is covered like a "horse race," at the expense of coverage on the issues, such as health care, social security, the economy, foreign policy, and education. "There's so much focus on the superficial," Edwards said. "The American people -- you -- deserve better than that."

Thompson said that as a democratic nation, we get the political process that we deserve. "It is our process. It is what we have concocted for better or worse as a people, and we can change it and we can improve it." he said.

Advancements in technology, such as faster and more efficient communications through the Internet, have had a huge impact over the years on running for president. Unlike the past, candidates today can go directly to voters through the Web to raise money, rather than depend on a relatively smaller number of big donors.

But while technology has democratized the fundraising process, it has also placed more pressure on candidates, in that they are under constant scrutiny and they are expected to know immediately about any important event happening around the world. "You have to be constantly ready," Edwards said. "There's never a time that you can take a break."

Thompson said a candidate could be getting off a bus, and suddenly meet a throng of reporters asking questions about something that happened on the other side of the globe. "From a candidate's standpoint, you can't get away from anything anymore," he said. "You're expected to know everything as it happens."

Also, because of today's 24-hour news cycle, the media has to find some issue to fill time, and often creates controversy, the ex-candidates said. "There's nothing more dangerous than a television personality with dead air time that he has to fill up," Thompson said. "Controversy is the name of the game, and sometimes it's generated when it's not really there."

Edwards agreed, saying that the need for continuous news "creates the imperative that there has to be controversy."

"They (the media) want a fight," he said. "They want a cat fight. They want a squabble."

Edwards added that political bloggers are having a major influence, and have become a source of information even for mainstream reporters. "Sometimes (bloggers) are out ahead of the mainstream media," he said.

During a question-and-answer session that followed, Edwards was asked whether he would consider the job of vice president, if he was asked by either Illinois Sen. Barack Obama or N.Y. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the two remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination.

"No," Edwards said. Asked earlier by CTIA president and chief executive Steve Largent whether he would be willing to announce his endorsement for either candidate at the conference, Edwards' answer was equally curt. "Never."

Edwards is a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, and pundits have said the state's May 6 primary could prove to be a pivotal showdown between Clinton and Obama.

Thompson, a former U.S. senator from Tennessee, was less direct in whether he would consider running as vice president beside the expected Republican nominee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Rather than give an answer, Thompson said the question doesn't matter, unless it's asked by "the only person that counts." In the meantime, "I need to go back to making a living," he said jokingly.