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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: lewislynn
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.

And who may I ask is going to watch it?

And for what reason?

61 posted on 01/05/2003 9:43:45 AM PST by VOYAGER
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Liberals aren't passionate. They are strident. I have met them in person and they are the ultimate turn off, always complaining about their "rights" and possessing not a drop of honest humility and gratitude. Many of them are also dangerously destructive, witness Charles Baron of Brooklyn, who talks about if "whitey doesn't give us our reparation money, we are going to city hall and taking it."

Vicious man. And I laugh when they talk about starting a liberal network. They have all the networks, PBS (which I highly resent paying for) and all the cable except Fox.

When you hear people saying over and over, "I thanked God the first time I heard Rush. Finally someone was talking the way I think". That is the secret of conservative success, not fancy focus groups and "messaging, message delivery and coordination of progressive groups." It is because Rush talks to the soul of what people already believe.

62 posted on 01/05/2003 9:47:30 AM PST by I still care
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To: #3Fan
CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, Hollywood, and network primetime isn't enough?

I wouldn't watch any of these media whore networks even to see a piss ant eat a bale of hay!

These are dead air outlets who write their own "rave" reviews!

63 posted on 01/05/2003 9:50:01 AM PST by VOYAGER
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To: Howlin
The Charlotte Observer and our local rag are all liberal and preoccupied with Edwards, which accounts for my NOT reading them.

However, I would really like to SEE a list of Edwards' visits to all 100 of NC counties WITH DATES AND PURPOSES.

64 posted on 01/05/2003 9:59:51 AM PST by Carolinamom
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To: Carolinamom
To tell you the truth, I'd like to see less of Edwards. Been having trouble keeping anything down these days. :)
65 posted on 01/05/2003 10:19:33 AM PST by Overtaxed
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
I like Rush a lot but one thing that really bugs me is when he refers to the media as 'mainstream'.

This implies that they are middle of the road or 'mainstream'.

THEY ARE NOT!

I think they could be more accurately discribbed as the 'liberal establishment media'.

Or just 'establishment media'.

Or how about 'Big Media'? Since they like to use the word 'big' to stigmatize something they don't like.
66 posted on 01/05/2003 10:29:49 AM PST by 429CJ
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
AND ... THE DEMS STILL DON'T GET IT!!
67 posted on 01/05/2003 10:55:53 AM PST by CyberAnt
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To: VOYAGER
I wouldn't watch any of these media whore networks even to see a piss ant eat a bale of hay! These are dead air outlets who write their own "rave" reviews!

Yeah it is weird how they always have to honor each other. It's like Jimmy Carter getting the peace prize, they're awarding themselves.

68 posted on 01/05/2003 11:53:54 AM PST by #3Fan
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Title should read "Democrats scrambling to find strong Socialists, Communists voices for the media".
69 posted on 01/05/2003 11:56:54 AM PST by Defender2
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To: Cultural Jihad
They think they are smarter that conservatives. BAWHAHAHA!

Why, of course they are. They're so smart, they can't even begin to explain to the wee folk just how smart they are. They're so smart, it overwhelms them.

"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

I just love that sentence. I'm going to make it into a sampler and hang it on my wall.

70 posted on 01/05/2003 12:06:11 PM PST by reformed_democrat
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To: Howlin
You're good! (Although Lanny Davis is sort of a waffler; not as strident in his stupidity as the rest.)
71 posted on 01/05/2003 1:56:37 PM PST by capitan_refugio
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To: reformed_democrat
"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

The chronic third party losers preach the same victimology.

72 posted on 01/05/2003 2:10:27 PM PST by Cultural Jihad
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To: DeFault User
Their "logic" reminds me of an old joke that was/is built into the Unix Operating System and is as follows:
In the beginning was the Demo Project. And the Project was without form. And darkness was upon the staff members thereof. So they spake unto their Division Head, saying, "It is a crock of sh*t, and it stinks." ...

The difference being that aging dung dries up, blows away, and will diminish greatly in odor. A crock or vessel facilitates fermentation of such foul substance. Thus, we have the Democratic Party in an urn of the body politic and the scent thereof wafts forth putrified when the lid is loosened from time to time.

73 posted on 01/05/2003 2:37:28 PM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
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.

Bbbbbut, wouldn't he need listeners?
74 posted on 01/05/2003 2:41:13 PM PST by tet68
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Hey, I have a question maybe one of you can answer for me.

It's kind of off topic, but this is as good a place to post it as any.

Why aren't the Rat's all over Joe Biden to run for President? He's 50 times more impressive than the field of clowns they have now and he's got name recognition.

75 posted on 01/05/2003 2:45:45 PM PST by Jhoffa_
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Oh, good Lord...not another one of these whining Democrat articles about finding "their voice"!!!!

GAD!! I just finished firing off a letter to Steve Lopez in the LA Times about his identicle column in today's paper. It even had the Harry Thomason quote.

There has been an all out media blitz since the November elections, to find some way...any way to bring the Democrats back to power.

Every newspaper, non-FOX cable network and Carville clone has been beating its breast and howling at Heaven to help them stop the Republicans.

If the Left wasn't so evil they'd make me sad.

Guys: Limbaugh, FOX News and the Washington Times succeeded because there was a void (market) on the Right to be filled. There is no such void on the Left, so your hysterical efforts will fail. Try coming up with better solutions (Ha! Yeah, right).

76 posted on 01/05/2003 3:00:18 PM PST by Deb
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To: reformed_democrat
They think they are smarter than conservatives. BAWHAHAHA!

Why, of course they are. They're so smart, they can't even begin to explain to the wee folk just how smart they are...

They don't have to b/c they're annointed. All they have to do is come up with liberal dribble, repeat it ad nauseam, then the minions will accept it, thus becoming empowered with the liberal agenda. i.e.

'Tax cuts for the rich'
'It will benefit the top one percent'.
'Right wing extremists'
'Rrepublicans are mean spirited'
'We feel your pain'
etc.

77 posted on 01/05/2003 3:15:56 PM PST by Balata
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To: Cultural Jihad
They think they are smarter than conservatives. BAWHAHAHA!

Shhhhh! ;)

O.K.

(BAWHAHAHA!)#;^)

78 posted on 01/05/2003 3:20:13 PM PST by Balata
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To: Deb
The NYT front page article from Jan. 1 had the same Harry Bloodworth quote, too.

The VLWC (Vast Left Wing Coincedence).

79 posted on 01/05/2003 3:23:49 PM PST by Senator Pardek
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To: Senator Pardek
Coincedence

What the hell does that mean?

80 posted on 01/05/2003 3:24:15 PM PST by Senator Pardek
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