I agree with little jeremiah. During the primaries the media doesn't matter as much as issues are discussed with people of similar ideological backrounds. In the general elections, we are engaged in information warfare. If you can't get the message out or if the message is being distorted, the other guy wins.
Since I have now been formally nominated as Chief Republican Strategist (/sarc), let me lay out a fundamental truth seems to have eluded the current crop of Republican politicians:
* The FIRST rule of trial lawyers, 'community activists', stockbrokers and, alas, politicians, it that the truth does not always matter. What matters is PERCEPTION. Perhaps truth only matters, at normal times, to about 1 in 4 people (arguably 1 in 6).
However, when you couple a negative truth with a negative perception, you have signed your own death warrant.
What did the republican majority, truthfully, accomplish in the last six years? Not much, unless you count a midnight resolution to save a brain dead woman from mercy killing (trampling all over the 'conservative value' of marital rights and responsibilities in the process), and instituting tax cuts that had an expiration date attached to them. The rest of the time they spent spending our tax money like drunken sailors on shore leave.The perception: Republicans only care about taxes and kow-towing to the right-to-life wing of the party. Fiscal responsibility and common sense are not to be found int he Republican party. Negative truth coupled with a negative perception -- Strike one.
Where the republicans HAD the opportunity to put forward a positive perception (immigration, disaster relief, entitlement reform are the three most visible incidents), they waffled or collapsed. Perception; they were not serious (for a variety of reasons) about doing anything about these issues. The Republican party is, in effect, fiddling while Rome burns. Negative truth coupled with a negative perception --- Strike two.
Then we come to the war. The truth is that 'victory' in this war will not be measured by body bags, nor with statistics indicating a lessing of terrorist attacks in Baghdad. It was not going to be magically won with elections which don't amount to a hill of beans when the necessary preconditions for democracy do not exist. The truth is that 'stay the course' was not an adequate explanation of what the war goals are. Perception; there are no war goals, there is no way of measuring success, the people in charge don't have anything in their bag of tricks to 'fix' Iraq and bring our people home.
The truth is that the other side doesn't have any ideas on how to fix it either, but this is one of those instances where truth doesn't matter.
The truth is that Donald Rumsfeld, whatever the official explanation, has been fired, as punishment for the lost election, in large part because he helped set the stage for it. The perception; Bush knew Rumsfeld should have gone a year ago, but needed an electoral loss to face the reality. He is not living on the same planet the rest of us are, and his loyalty is to a select group of his father's cronies, and not the rest of us. The Republicans have no plan to finish up in Iraq, no leadership and no answers. Negative truth coupled with a negative perception --- Strike three.
It a;; well and good to have truth on your side, just remember it only has a limited application. In those rare occasions when it does matter to the greater mass of the cattle out there in TV-land, you had better be able to couple positive truths with positive perceptions, or you're dead.