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Democrats scrambling to find strong liberal voices for media
Houston Chronicle ^ | January 5, 2002 | JIM RUTENBERG, New York Times

Posted on 01/05/2003 1:14:16 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

NEW YORK -- Influential Democrats, worried that their party has been outgunned in the political propaganda wars by conservative radio and television personalities, are scouring the nation for a liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh and the many others on the deep bench of Republican friends.

For years, Democrats have groused about their inability to balance what they see as the increasing influence over the electorate by advocates of Republican policies.

But they say their concerns have taken on a new urgency because of the rise to the top of the cable news ratings by the Fox News Channel, considered by liberals to have a conservative slant, and the loss of the Senate to the Republicans in November. Some Democrats say the election outcome enhanced the influence of Fox News and personalities like Limbaugh.

The efforts among influential Democrats, particularly liberals, range from a grass-roots talent search for progressive radio hosts to the creation of think tanks to provide a Democratic spin for the news media, to nascent discussions by wealthy supporters about starting a cable network with a liberal bent.

People working on these projects acknowledged they were venturing into territory where liberals have failed and failed again, most notably with the short-lived radio programs of Mario Cuomo and Texan Jim Hightower, not to mention Phil Donahue's struggling, liberal talk show on MSNBC.

However, they said, the recent Republican gains have perhaps set the backdrop for the emergence of an angry liberal who could claim the same outsider status that worked so well for Limbaugh in the early 1990s.

The hurried efforts by Democrats to find more powerful media voices comes after years of carping but little action.

"If you start from the premise that the message was right, which we do, then the problem was that it wasn't getting out to the people," said one official of the Democratic Party who spoke on condition that his name not be used.

With that sentiment, there is a sense within the leadership ranks that the party erred in not building a media support system after the 2000 presidential election, when it lost the media coordination of the Clinton White House.

"Across the board, we need to muscle up," said John Podesta, the former White House chief of staff for Bill Clinton and now a law professor at Georgetown University. "That means from the congressional operations to the party committees to the think tank world to, most significantly, beefing up our capacity to communicate with the public in all forms of media, not just through obscure Internet Web sites but on television and radio."

For his part, Podesta is discussing with Internet entrepreneur Steven T. Kirsch and others the creation of a liberal version of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative research group that, along with others of its kind, is credited with helping start the modern conservative movement.

The foundation is part of a circuit of influential conservative groups that are credited with helping to hone a singular conservative message, bolstered each Wednesday at back-to-back meetings held by Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, and the conservative activist Paul Weyrich. Those meetings are monitored and at times attended by some conservative commentators, columnists and Internet writers.

Democrats have long claimed that the circuit has corralled conservative thinkers, and more importantly, conservative media, into a disciplined message of the week that gets repeated attention from Web sites like The Drudge Report, Limbaugh's radio show, Fox News' prime-time talk shows and the editorial pages of The Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Kirsch, chief executive of the Propel Internet service and a prominent Democratic fund-raiser, said the foundation he and Podesta envision would do the same for liberals.

"During the last 10 years the opposition has become more organized and the liberals haven't adapted to counter it," he said. "We will have components that will include messaging, message delivery and coordination of progressive groups so progressives will speak with more of a unified voice."

But if history is any guide, the soil may not be fertile. Liberal radio programs have not worked very well in the past. Liberals and conservatives said they believed this was in part because the most prominent liberal hosts have tended to present policy issues in all of their dry complexity while refraining from baring fangs against their conservative opponents.

"Most liberal talk shows are so, you know, milquetoast, who would want to listen to them?" said Harry Thomason, the Hollywood producer who is close to Clinton. "Conservatives are all fire and brimstone."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: liberalangst
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Here we go again, another arms race. This time, it's mouths instead of missles and the enemy is within. It would seem that they're looking to build a stockpile of intracontinental ballistic mouths to nuke conservative talk radio. Propelled by the hot air of mental flatulance, such weaponry could fly well in the vacuum of liberal space. With so many presidential wannabees, maybe there'll be a battle for the launch controls. Better yet, maybe they'll try to nuke each other.
21 posted on 01/05/2003 3:36:08 AM PST by pt17
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
A liberal voice is like a bowel movement. Regardless of how strong it is you still end up with a pile of shit.

22 posted on 01/05/2003 4:02:45 AM PST by William Terrell
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
angry liberal

Go for it Dems!

But wait, don't you already have Begala and Carville. Who could be more angry than they?

Or what about Daschle's rants, they really took him a long way toward maintaining the Democratic majority in the Senate.

I think if you look at Rush, Bill O'Reilly or any of the conservative hosts that have achieved popularity, you'll find more humor, or at least sarcasm, in their approach than anger.

The American people don't want anger, they want truth and straightforward answers.

23 posted on 01/05/2003 4:50:08 AM PST by dawn53
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
A "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" bump.
24 posted on 01/05/2003 5:09:17 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: mewzilla
Well you know, you can count the number of conservative, you know, media outlets on one hand. It is extremely disappointing that the other 1000+ newspapers, magazines, and alphabet networks can't seem to get the democratic, you know, propaganda across to the sheeple. It seems that there is only one choice left for the democrats. You know, Hillary, it's for the children, Clinton. Her eloquence, truthfulness, and ability to recall all the facts makes her, you know, perfect for the job.
25 posted on 01/05/2003 5:31:45 AM PST by Quilla
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To: Bernard
And don't forget PBS and NPR.

Yea anybody right now can tune into NPR and listen to Diane Rehm, Terry Gross, or Tavis Smiley. Yawnnnnnnn, ...................................... sorry I fell asleep at the keyboard.

26 posted on 01/05/2003 5:43:16 AM PST by Drango
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Maybe one of the bald folks?


27 posted on 01/05/2003 5:49:50 AM PST by The Raven
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
They need a propagandist. When the ideology is flawed - one needs to lie a lot.

"Any system which allows some people to exercise unbridled power over other people is an open invitation to abuse." - T Sowell
28 posted on 01/05/2003 5:53:32 AM PST by The Raven
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"The efforts among influential Democrats, particularly liberals"

Talk about misleading...I'd like the author to name 3 influential Democrats who are not liberal. I'll just wait here......... (Insert theme music from Jeopardy)

One of the reasons that liberals fail at talk radio is that they are incapable of having a discussion without injecting their philosophy into it, and giving an example of how one of their icons reacted to the matter under discussion. Whenever a debate appears to be turning away from their "touchy-feeley" answers, they invoke either Clinton, FDR or JFK and what they either did or proposed.

29 posted on 01/05/2003 5:58:51 AM PST by par4
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The reason liberal talk shows will never take off is conservative callers. They steal their lunch every time.

Bwaa-ha-ha-ha!

30 posted on 01/05/2003 6:05:03 AM PST by BufordP
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To: Balata
...prominent liberal hosts have tended to present policy issues in all of their dry complexity while refraining from baring fangs...

LOL!

Ain't it silly?

Liberals perceive themselves as being so complex and so circumspect. The delusional pomposity of these people is always good for a chuckle.

31 posted on 01/05/2003 6:48:04 AM PST by Yardstick
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
strong liberal voices for media

What, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings aren't enough?? Not to mention Cocoa Roberts, Nina Totebag, Katie Colonic, Bowel Moyers, et. al.?

I can nominate any number of very STRIDENT liberal voices for their consideration. But I can't think of many who are STRONG. It may have something to do with the moral paucity and intellectual weakness of their message.

32 posted on 01/05/2003 6:56:24 AM PST by IronJack
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The foundation is part of a circuit of influential conservative groups that are credited with helping to hone a singular conservative message, bolstered each Wednesday at back-to-back meetings held by Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, and the conservative activist Paul Weyrich.

At one point, a FReeper representative was attending at least one of those meetings. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a party at Grover Norquist's home after last year's CPAC, where I was entertained (and informed) by a lengthy conversation with Grover Norquist Sr., who was a security analyst under the Reagan administration. Radio Free Republic also interviewed Grover Jr. as part of its CPAC coverage.

33 posted on 01/05/2003 7:02:30 AM PST by IronJack
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To: IronJack
Noone could stand a lib shill for very long. What they are missing is that there is now an active questioning thinking conservative voice and that is just devastating to them as they underestimate the intelligence of Americans. They think we are all dumb, led by slogans and shaming and don't think for ourselves. Interesting that they haven't figured out that their emptiness precludes any good lib voices. The good ones are gone. Moynihan was good, but they dissed him when he told the truth.
34 posted on 01/05/2003 7:04:15 AM PST by cajungirl
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To: cajungirl
As an earlier poster pointed out, conservatives don't need to "convince" anyone of their rectitude. All we have to do is present the facts and let the evidence speak for itself. It is the liberals who have to scream what they cannot whisper, who resort to trickery and volume to make up what they lack in credibility. Their agenda is so rife with hypocrisy and doubletalk that it destroys itself if it just sees the light of day. And conservatives are the sun.

Nothing terrifies the Left more than Truth off the leash.

35 posted on 01/05/2003 7:08:41 AM PST by IronJack
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Awwww, the Dem's are just sore over the fact that the last time they had a strong radio host it FDR doing fire side chats.
36 posted on 01/05/2003 7:13:17 AM PST by SandRat
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"If you start from the premise that the message was right, which we do, then the problem was that it wasn't getting out to the people," said one official of the Democratic Party who spoke on condition that his name not be used.


Shall I tell them or should you, or better yet, just let them keep thinking that?

37 posted on 01/05/2003 7:14:11 AM PST by riversarewet
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To: dfwgator
Liberals are like the devil, their trick is to convince people that they really don't exist. Noone at the networks will ever use the "L" word, but they show their true colors in more subtle ways.

True.

38 posted on 01/05/2003 7:15:47 AM PST by #3Fan
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To: Bernard
And don't forget PBS and NPR. Those are already funded by the taxpayers.

Imagine their outrage if the taxpayers were funding broadcasting that was as conservative as PBS and NPR are liberal.

39 posted on 01/05/2003 7:22:35 AM PST by #3Fan
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To: BufordP
The reason liberal talk shows will never take off is conservative callers

Precisely why any "official" 'rat talk show will be heavily screened to prevent a rational caller. It'll be an audio DU thread.

40 posted on 01/05/2003 7:29:14 AM PST by j_tull
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