My dare to Kossacks is pretty simple, can we construct a left-wing narrative that resonates with the American people? Or at least gets us to stop sniping at President Obama and the Democrats every move?
From Balloon Juice, earlier today: "Maybe this was inevitable, given the (inexplicable) power of conservative narratives."
What we need to understand is for conservatives it is all about the narrative. There arguments, there policy, and there politics are all built around a narrative, which often times gets people to side with them, when all the facts in the world say those people are nuts.
The right-wing in this country builds off of a narrative created by the right-wing media. As I wrote in a diary on Monday, there's a symbiotic relationship between right-wing media and Republicans, in constructing narratives.
These narratives can get out into the mainstream media, where they drive news cycles.
Media manipulation by the right-wing to influence public perception has been a decade-long tactic to undermine voter registration in America. While the current media frenzy surrounding the community organization ACORN is only partly related to voter registration efforts, it is important to note that the attacks have been built on a foundation of misinformation and media manipulation by the right-wing over several years, largely surrounding the myth of "voter fraud."
How this strategy has played out was the subject of a recent independent academic study, "Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why Acorn was the News, and What the News Got Wrong." Conducted by Peter Dreier, director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Center at Occidental College and Christopher Martin, professor of journalism at the University of Northern Iowa, the report examines how "the little-known community organization became the subject of a major news story in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, to the point where 82% of the respondents in an October 2008 national survey reported they had heard about ACORN."
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com...
And lay the groundwork for politicians to take swift action against ACORN, for any reason because there's a steady narrative built up against them.
I don't want us to go down the sleazy path of right-wing lies, but what the left in this country has failed miserably to do is build a narrative about why our policies will work better for the American people.
We don't lay the groundwork for our politicians to convey messages to the American, which reflect the benefits of promoting a liberal agenda.
From the frong page of Monday's Dailykos: Point is, our media machine is tiny.
We are starting at a disadvantage compared to the resources the right-wingers have, but we compound this disadvantage when we turn into a circular firing squad, with politicians who are trying to promote our policies - such as cap and trade, health care reform, etc. - in the middle by criticizing their every move.
I'm not advocating jumping into the fantasy realm of right-wing narratives about tax cuts are always good, for example.
The challenge for Kossacks - I consider Dailykos a major media outlet for liberals - is can we start promoting narratives about the positives the liberal agenda has for America?
This includes highlighting the positives that have happened over the past one year, under President Obama and the Democratic Congress, who are promoting our agenda to a point.
Can we give them them the narrative they need to push further to the left?
For example President Obama using money from the stimulus bill has greatly improved the state of renewable energy in our country. Renewable energy is one of the biggest keys America has in correcting our trade imbalance, because oil imports are a major factor in our trade imbalance with the rest of the world. We're spending billions every year to countries, who are not always aligned with us. More investment in renewable energy will mean we get to keep our jobs and money in America.
Maybe what I wrote above is a weak narrative, I'm new to this. Maybe you can do better, by coming up with better liberal narratives.
Dailykos is a major media source for liberals. Use it to start promoting the liberal narrative and the positives we've had over the past one year, when President Obama and the Democrats have tilted left. Give the American people a reason to believe in what we're doing.