I think we can all agree that there has been much gnashing of teeth lately. Kerry should do this or that. We should shut up or speak louder. Kerry is doing terribly. Kerry is perfectly positioned. The media won't give Kerry a break. Kerry is sabotaging his chances with the media. Kerry has a secret plan for his campaign.
What is going on?
This all stems from poor communication between dKos (and rank and file Democrats generally) and Kerry and Democratic insiders. We honestly have no idea what is going on.
Let's take a single example for illustration. If I turn on my TV and watch Judy Woodruff giving it to the Kerry/Edwards campaign with a strap-on for 90 minutes, what am I to think? I have no idea.
Does the Kerry campaign notice that Woodruff is deliberately trying to kill their campaign? One would presume so, but one has no idea. When I read stories that Kerry doesn't answer reporters questions, I do question whether these people "get it."
When Chris Matthews got a little tough with Michelle Malkin, who one might note is neither a staffer of the Bush/Cheney campaign nor a Republican Party official, the GOP threatened to boycott Hardball.
Does the DNC make similar threats to Woodruff? Does the Kerry campaign? Do Carville or Begala personally complain to Woodruff or her producers? We simply have no idea. For all we know, they all go out to a cocktail party later that night.
Most Kossacks hate the media as much or more than Bush and Cheney. At least one can understand why Bush and Cheney lie: to control the most powerful country on the planet. The D.C. Heathers compromise their principles and undermine democracy out of petty spite. "Who cares if Bush is an incompetent psychopath? Gore and Kerry are so uncool."
So what are the Democrats doing to fight the media? We simply have no idea. This lack of information is profoundly demoralizing to Kossacks and, I suspect, is hurting the campaign. Sure, we're all going to vote for Kerry, but so what? During the primaries I predicted record turnout to throw Bush out of office. People who had never before participated were motivated for change. Is that still going to happen. Bush has a finite number of people who will vote for him. When people get depressed about the process, Democrats suffer.
Democratic insiders need to find a way to discuss with the base what they are doing to regain control of the media. Maybe this can't happen immediately. Maybe it can't start in the middle of the campaign, but it has to happen.
A related note. Despite the fact that dKos has continued to grow, it has never felt less connected to the actual campaign happenings. Is it too much to ask the Kerry campaign to post here from time to time, read the comments, and pretend anything we say means anything? I can tell you that it would cut down on 90% of the bitching if somebody on Kerry's staff posted - just f-ing once - what they were thinking.
I know that Kerry has his own blog, but this is the most vital Democratic blog. Kerry and the DNC should respect it and not just treat the community like an ATM.