Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83704.html" target="_blank">http://www.politico.com/news/s...704.html</a> Must-read on the GOP's carefully selected and cultivated media cocoon. And before we hear how "liberals do it too!" yes, it addresses differences and explains why this is a bigger problem for Republicans than Democrats. >>In this reassuring conservative pocket universe, Rasmussen polls are gospel, the Benghazi controversy is worse than Watergate, “Fair and Balanced” isn’t just marketing and Dick Morris is a political seer.... The Al Sharptons and Rachel Maddows of the left don’t have the same influence as their counterparts on the right. There are as many, if not more, NPR-oriented liberals as MSNBC devotees on the left; the Democratic media ecosystem is larger and more diverse. Further, and more importantly, the Democratic Party has a leader in Obama who for over four years has sought to appeal to a majority of Americans for the obvious political reasons. “Being a Democrat means being identified with Barack Obama, not Ed Schultz and Martin Bashir,” said Douthat, citing two liberal MSNBC hosts. Conversely, for nearly six years, since President Bush’s second term went south, Republicans have been effectively without a leader. And into that vacuum has stepped a series of conservative figures whose incentives in most cases are not to win votes but to make money and score ratings by being provocative and even outlandish. “Their bottom line is their main goal, but that doesn’t mean they’re serving the population that buys their books,” said Domenech. And this, say next-generation Republicans, is where cocoonism has been detrimental to the cause.<< Much more at the link!
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>And into that vacuum has stepped a series of conservative figures whose incentives in most cases are not to win votes but to make money<< Anyone surprised? Perhaps the noise machine knows that the war has been lost, and therefore will take solace in making lots of money.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 From a related article, a quote from David Frum (who I think coined, or at least is popularizing the term "Conservative Entertainment Complex"): “When people in politics had real connections with voters … 15 minutes of Rush Limbaugh — a little porn never hurt anybody,” Frum said. “But when he becomes the king-maker of the party, then you have a problem.” I think that's the crux of it right there. If you're a conservative and view Limbaugh as a guilty pleasure - a little porn as Frum puts it - that's one thing. If you view him as some sort of serious thinker or the guy who's always right, that's another. And if you're an elected official who's scared witless to cross him, that's yet another thing, and unfortunately, that's where the GOP is at right now.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<And if you're an elected official who's scared witless to cross him, that's yet another thing, and unfortunately, that's where the GOP is at right now.>> Trouble is, I'm not sure there's really anything that the GOP can do right now to get out of this situation. They've really backed themselves into a corner here, and it might take a few more elections where they lose on the national level before they can sway voters away from these idiots.
Originally Posted By ecdc I think that's what's interesting about the article. It's not a hit piece on the GOP; it's made up almost entirely of interviews by younger members of the party who are rejecting the popular explanation of Romney's loss on demographics and are instead embracing the idea that they have a cultural problem. Which is harder to fix, but the first step is recognizing you have a problem. So these people do want to change things. It really could be a very good thing for the country. We may see social issues like gay marriage die off, and we start having more grown up conversations about the role of government and fixing real problems.
