New Political Paradigm
After posting on Barone in my last post to support my point about Hillary and Bill, I realized that Barone's article requires a separate post. Barone shows that he gets it in this column on the tremendous change that Rove and Mehlman brought to the way campaigns will be fought in the future. Or at least that he gets some of it.
The fundamental lesson of the 2004 election is the way that the MSM was rendered impotent (or at least not omnipotent) in determining what information the voters would have in making their choices. In 1994, the House Republicans honored Rush Limbaugh for the role he played in helping them win a majority. In 2004, blogs, e-mail and 527s joined talk radio to form an alternative network for information. This alternative network was a critical contributor to Bush's win.
Some may object by pointing out that Democrats raised and spent more money on 527s, have a huge presence in the blogosphere, and used e-mail and the internet every bit as much as Republicans. Yes, they did. And they were all used to disseminate pretty much the same information that voters were already getting from the MSM and Democratic campaign ads. Or fantastic tales of jack-booted storm troopers and black helicopters that were unlikely to influence anyone not already living in the fevered swamps. In sum, they didn't add value to the debate.
Conservative 527s, talk radio, blogs and informal personal e-mail networks, however, brought quite a bit of new information to the debate. GOP candidates have always been reluctant to go negative in their ads or take on the MSM to defend their records for fear the MSM will hammer them. Look at the MSM uproar over Willie Horton or the objections earlier this year when the GOP simply highlighted Senator Reid's record and was accused of "kneecapping" him. President Bush knew he couldn't defend his economic record against the baseless of claims of jobless recovery because the MSM would pound him mercilessly for failing to care for those without jobs. His father had suffered that fate in 1992 when he had tried to tell the truth about the economy. In short, fear of the MSM has often left GOP candidates defenseless.
As any casual observer of politics over the last couple decades knows, Democrats haven't suffered the same reluctance. Hence the relentless assault on Republicans as the "KKK in pinstriped suits", "facist stormtroopers", and the like. This past election, we saw the Democrats push organized fear campaigns alleging a new draft and a plan to cut social security benefits. Through it all the MSM has never voiced objection, no matter how vicious Democrats get.
Enter the alternative news network. Bloggers and 527s joined talk radio in bringing the conservative message to the voters. And they, unlike the Bush campaign, were not reluctant to highlight Kerry's lies, betryals, and the emptiness of his record. They were free to offer the truth to dispute the standard MSM spin on Iraq and the economy. Every new opinion column, 527 ad or blog post which did an effective job refuting the liberal MSM spin was quickly distributed throughout the country by e-mail, blog links and talk radio hosts.
In short, this alternative information source completely by-passed the MSM. The monopoly is over. Personal networks and the alternative news media have fundamentally changed the flow of information. And presidential campaigns will never be dependent on MSM coverage and campaign ads again.
The fundamental lesson of the 2004 election is the way that the MSM was rendered impotent (or at least not omnipotent) in determining what information the voters would have in making their choices. In 1994, the House Republicans honored Rush Limbaugh for the role he played in helping them win a majority. In 2004, blogs, e-mail and 527s joined talk radio to form an alternative network for information. This alternative network was a critical contributor to Bush's win.
Some may object by pointing out that Democrats raised and spent more money on 527s, have a huge presence in the blogosphere, and used e-mail and the internet every bit as much as Republicans. Yes, they did. And they were all used to disseminate pretty much the same information that voters were already getting from the MSM and Democratic campaign ads. Or fantastic tales of jack-booted storm troopers and black helicopters that were unlikely to influence anyone not already living in the fevered swamps. In sum, they didn't add value to the debate.
Conservative 527s, talk radio, blogs and informal personal e-mail networks, however, brought quite a bit of new information to the debate. GOP candidates have always been reluctant to go negative in their ads or take on the MSM to defend their records for fear the MSM will hammer them. Look at the MSM uproar over Willie Horton or the objections earlier this year when the GOP simply highlighted Senator Reid's record and was accused of "kneecapping" him. President Bush knew he couldn't defend his economic record against the baseless of claims of jobless recovery because the MSM would pound him mercilessly for failing to care for those without jobs. His father had suffered that fate in 1992 when he had tried to tell the truth about the economy. In short, fear of the MSM has often left GOP candidates defenseless.
As any casual observer of politics over the last couple decades knows, Democrats haven't suffered the same reluctance. Hence the relentless assault on Republicans as the "KKK in pinstriped suits", "facist stormtroopers", and the like. This past election, we saw the Democrats push organized fear campaigns alleging a new draft and a plan to cut social security benefits. Through it all the MSM has never voiced objection, no matter how vicious Democrats get.
Enter the alternative news network. Bloggers and 527s joined talk radio in bringing the conservative message to the voters. And they, unlike the Bush campaign, were not reluctant to highlight Kerry's lies, betryals, and the emptiness of his record. They were free to offer the truth to dispute the standard MSM spin on Iraq and the economy. Every new opinion column, 527 ad or blog post which did an effective job refuting the liberal MSM spin was quickly distributed throughout the country by e-mail, blog links and talk radio hosts.
In short, this alternative information source completely by-passed the MSM. The monopoly is over. Personal networks and the alternative news media have fundamentally changed the flow of information. And presidential campaigns will never be dependent on MSM coverage and campaign ads again.
posted by Stan at 3:27 PM
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