Heavens! Is that Hillary with some "everyday Americans"? BLASPHEMY!
The same day I lauded Hillary Clinton for (mostly)
ignoring the Beltway Media, we get
this tweet, from the supposedly "liberal"
New York Times:
Way to confirm my thesis, jackass. It's not just the venom directed at Clinton herself, but at the notion that actual regular Americans have any say in the process. In the mind of Horowitz and his beltway pals, those Americans are usurping his god-given right to dictate the terms of the presidential debate. Fuck that shit.
That's why there's zero reason for ANY presidential candidate to speak to these horserace Betlway media assholes. Rather, in this era of extreme polarization, one in which the "persuadable" are few and far between, candidates should focus on talking to their core supporters, energizing them and giving them a reason to turn out and vote.
For Republicans, that means a lot of time on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Unlucky for them, that stuff isn't particularly popular with the broader American mainstream, but hey, it works in the off-year elections.
And we, as Americans, get a better idea about where those Republicans actually stand on the issues than anything a horserace reporter could give us. I mean, it was Fox News that got Jeb Bush to admit that he'd be no different than his brother in Iraq! Oops for him, and kudos to Fox for showing that Jeb is so pathetic that he couldn't even handle that softball of a question. Compare that to racist Mark Halperin asking Ted Cruz his favorite Cuban food. ...
For Democrats, that means talking to Latinos via Univision, to black radio, to LGBT magazines, to Asian newspapers, to genuinely liberal media outlets. And, of course, it means talking directly to supporters via email, Facebook, Twitter, other rising social media outlets, and even in person (gasp!). Those are the people who matter to Hillary's presidential bid, and that of every other Democrat on the ballot next November.
The Beltway hacks may not like this end-run around them, but so what? We may ultimately fail to learn whether a candidate wears boxers or briefs, but ultimately, "everyday Americans" are better served as a result.