We always talk here about Dems needing more spine and standing up to the GOP and Bush. I completely agree with that. We also constantly complain about how the Media always rolls over for Bush and the GOP and how they absolutely suck. I agree with that too. And the two problems are related:
"I think that basically press coverage of any president is only as critical as the opposition party is critical," says Hertsgaard, who also wrote about the media and Reagan for The Nation shortly after the ex-president died in June.
Tom Rosenstiel, who heads the Project for Excellence in Journalism, agrees that the media take their cues from outside forces. "The press generally tends to be very reflective and reactive," he says. "When it becomes more aggressive it's usually because its sources become more aggressive."
CJR
More on the flip
This is a point that we make once in a while but I think it is especially critical now. At this moment, the DLC and others are urging reachout to "values" voters, a move to the middle, etc - in essence, admitting our supposed mistakes.
I'm all for correcting our mistakes - but I think we need to be sure what our mistakes were. My own view is that our fundamental mistakes were our unwillingness to be aggressive on the horrible Bush Administration and the Republican Party in general. Most symptomatic on this was the Dem limpness on Iraq/WoT, pre-Dean and post-Kerry wrapping the nomination. There are, of course many other issues that qualify, but to me, who saw these issues as the deciders in the most recent Election, nothing stands out more.
I think the critiques were dead on, especially from my guy, General Clark. I think that those critiques must continue if we expect to get anything out of the SCLM.
Some intelligent posters expressed the view that the Dem Party can't be seen as anti-War and hope to succeed electorally. I defer from this view. I see the kernel of truth in their statement but think they misunderstand that the pitfalls they fear mainly stem from the lack of a sustained critique on these points. Through the primaries, and after September, when Kerry engaged in a sustained critique of BushCo's policies on Iraq/WoT, Dems and Kerry gained significantly on the "keep us safe" question for 2 reasons in my view -(1) the failures of BushCo were highlighted and (2) the Media was willing to cover the BushCo failures.
From the June 30 handover to September, Kerry's and Dems' failure to continue the assault on the Iraq/WoT issue led to a virtual blackout on Iraq coverage, allowed the GOP to switch from defense to offense and pushed the Media into its typical failures.
We simply can't afford any such letup on our chosen issues. As the Loyal Opposition, it is our duty and it is to our political benefit to critique the performance of this failed Administration. To do otherwise will lead to continued Media incompetence and more electoral difficulties in 06.