This isnt a traditional diary. It doesnt preach an idea. It isnt about bringing something to your attention. It isnt about "speaking ones piece" and recieving comments. This diary is a call for Kossacks to develop Techniques to teach our spokesmen how to handle the media.
It is painfully clear to most of us that our leadership has become media-incompetant. Our spokesmen fall into trap after trap. Meaningless quibbles become national scandals. Slanderous lies become common wisdom. And we never have a coherent message.
We need your help. All of you. In developing ideas and techniques to turn the tide
(more below)
There are some things we should set as foundations. As bases we can work from. I would
propose the following:
I. The media is currently anti-Democrat. The reasons for it are irrelevant to the discussion.
II. Democrats do not have a coherent message or a system for spreading it. The reasons here are important. We are not authoritarian thus it is harder for us to "trickle down" a message. Our messages can as easily come from the base, from a blogger, from a comment, as they can from a Senator. Our mechanism must be more omnidirectional than the wurlitzer.
III. Democrats do not have a mechanism to punish, silence, or disuade interest groups within the party from hijacking the partys voice for their own cause. We must have a stick.
IV. We must strenghten our reward mechanism. Activist democrats, with the ascencion of Dean as party chair, have in effect taken control of the party. We, through activists websites and organisations like Kos, Moveon et al control large sums of money, votes, and perhaps more importantly, Voices. We must develop mechanisms to reward good behavior more effectively
V. We must improve the methods we are beginning to develop to punish outright falsehoods, attacks, and hackery by the press. It must be organised, intentional, and noticeable to the corporate press.
From here i ask you to please provide improvements, revisions, additions. To give your ideas whether you are a front page poster, a brand new Kossack, or Markos himself. The true power of Kos, of the Democratic party, and of the left is our minds and our creativity. I need your help. The party needs your help. America and the world need your help.
Thank you in advance.