Starting To Get It

Lee Habeeb, VP of Content for Salem Radio Network

National Review has an article today by Lee Habeeb (h/t Hugh Hewitt).  The article is about story-telling and boils the problems of the Republican Party down to an issue of “messaging.”

This post is titled “Starting to Get It” because Mr. Habeeb points out that Republicans are (gasp!) unpopular.  In our culture, they are cast as “the bad guys.”

I’m sure many who read Mr.Habeeb’s article will simply frame it as another Republican rant.  But the idea that our culture sees Republicans as “the bad guys” is the salient point.

In an earlier post about the elegance of Democratic Party messaging, I brought up this issue in the context of simplicity and repetition.

The Democratic Party pushes The Themes over and over, and reassures its adherents, “You have high ideals, but dislike of Republicans is what makes you popular.”

Story-telling might be good messaging.  Being consistent and repetitive is what engenders power.

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The Media Research Center

 

 

The Media Research Center operates under Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(Yes, that is the type of organization the IRS wishes to suppress.)  As it happens, the Media Research Center (MRC) was founded in 1987, before the current ideological shift in the IRS.

L. Brent Bozell, III (a nephew of William F. Buckley) started the venture.  That’s interesting, as well as this fact: While the MRC often promotes conservative principles, Mr. Bozell says he is not a Republican.

All this is by way of introduction to an MRC study that is out today.  It analyzes the slant of the evening newscasts for ABC, CBS and NBC in covering the partial shutdown of the American government.  The three networks had 124 stories covering the shutdown, from October 1 through October 15.  Here is the significant finding:

Of the 124 full stories and brief items about the shutdown or the pending debt ceiling deadline, 41 blamed Republicans or conservatives for the impasse, 17 blamed both sides, and none specifically blamed Democrats.

The article has a chart and some anecdotal information, but the conclusion is about polling data.  Each of the three networks conducted polling of the American public and found that Americans blame Republicans for the problems of our government.

ABC, CBS, and NBC let Americans know this is what is "right and natural."

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Looking at You Differently

An open letter to my Democratic Party friends:

I am looking at you differently these days.  Yes, I still consider you a friend, but I don’t understand what you are doing.

Here is a concern: You are attracted to organizations that teach you I am a racist.  The “accepted truth” is that because I am a Republican, I want to hurt people with dark skin tone.

Let me put that in perspective.  Perhaps you have a gay son or daughter, and attend a church that teaches that your child is therefore a sinner.  You are taught one thing, yet you know another.

Why do you support an organization teaching principles you know are false?

Another concern is the toleration of government pressure against people of differing ideology.  Why are you comfortable with the use of the IRS for political reprisal?  To me, that seems insensitive and obtuse.

Lastly, because I am a Republican, I suffer dehumanization.  Without a second thought, our culture thinks of Republicans as “mean-spirited, risky extremists.” And lately, the rhetoric has been ratcheted up.  We are now characterized as terrorists, arsonists, murderers and worse.

Again, I see your quiet acceptance and wonder, “What is the attraction for you?”

And more to the point: “Am I really your friend?”

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