This is Part 1 of a three part series that defines the problems facing Conservatives and outlines some ideas to solve them. We must Re-Take, Re-Seed and Re-Shape.
The November election debacle has Republicans doing pratfalls and forming circular firing squads. They have no idea, no leadership and no core values. And they have no hope of fixing their election problems because they have no clue.
The GOP still refuses to acknowledge what most Conservatives already know: You can’t bring a knife to a gun fight and expect to win. Republicans are also playing Checkers while the Liberals are playing Chess.
There are three basic strategies that Conservatives must employ if we harbor any plans for saving America. Republicans are incapable of mounting a credible defense of their values (caving on the debt ceiling, “evolving” on illegal immigration, etc.) and are afraid to play offense for fear of being attacked by the media. They fear losing elections more than doing what’s right for America. That means true Conservatives must take charge and act along the clear and effective strategies outlined below.
Part 1. Re-Take the High Ground (Media).
It’s truly sad to hear Republicans and Conservatives whine, moan and complain about left-wing media bias. “The media is biased”. “We would win of we could just get our message out.” “We can’t get a break in the Press.” Waah, waah, waah. It’s tiresome, boring and ineffective. It’s like watching an old shaggy mule that’s been rode hard and put away wet awaiting processing at the glue factory.
It’s time for Conservatives and Republicans to finally understand this obvious FACT: The current configuration of the mainstream media is not designed to report the news. The vast majority of today’s media is built from the ground-up to SHAPE the news, not report it. And that media is 99% controlled by liberals who have no interest whatsoever in giving Conservatives or Republicans a fair shake, equal time or doing balanced reporting. Their long-term objective is to advance the liberal agenda, support Democrats (especially Obama) and defeat Conservatives. Period. Conservatives will not get unbiased or fair reporting so we MUST STOP wishing for something that will never happen.
Even if Republicans make a great point on an issue (and actually stick to it), the media will not cover it. The better the Conservative message, the less chance it has of getting air time or print space. Verbal gaffs by Democrats get spiked or ignored while GOP mistakes get the endless-loop treatment. Just look at the difference in the tone and volume of coverage assigned to Senator Menendez compared to Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock or Marco Rubio’s sip slip. All the cable comic TV shows universally ridicule Conservatives and Republicans, seldom Democrats and never Obama.
So stop crying, Mildred. There is no media Santa Clause.
Conservatives have no one but themselves to blame for this predicament. Why? Because we sat around and allowed the liberals to completely dominate the media for years. Now liberals run all the major newspapers, most TV networks, affiliate stations, Facebook, Twitter and the cable systems. Liberals have Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry locked-up tighter than a kettle drum. There is no way Conservatives have a chance in this lopsided media dog fight. It’s like a new F22 Stealth Raptor vs. an old B52.
Having some fading influence on Fox News or dominating talk radio will not change that dynamic because those outlets just preach to the choir and appeal to a closed-loop captive audience. The election results make it clear that Conservatives must broaden our audience – without compromising our values like Republicans.
The reasons for these abject Conservative failures are manifold but the end result is simple and clear: Liberals hold the high ground and will continue to win the air war (shape the news) until the situation is reversed.
So what can be done?
Conservatives must make a concerted effort to re-take the high ground. That means we must occupy the media. We have to buy into current media outlets AND strengthen the small batch of media organizations we currently influence. We must convince wealthy conservatives like the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn et al to form media-based corporations, pool their resources, consolidate conservative media talent and start buying newspapers, TV stations and web-based media systems. Fox News and Rush Limbaugh can’t carry the load anymore.
In short, Conservatives need to take the initiative to shape and define the news rather than allowing the liberals to define it for us. We should not waste time and money creating new media outlets to compete with liberals because there is too much media clutter already. We must organize and take over (buy) liberal media outlets. Don’t compete…eat.
Conservatives must buy stock in The LA Times, The Washington Post, Disney, CNN, local TV affiliates and newspapers with the serious and long-term intent of replacing those “journalists” to change the agenda. Conservatives might concentrate on buying The NY Times, for example, to change that organization from top-to-bottom. Conservatives could have purchased Newsweek Magazine last year for one dollar ($1) but let that opportunity lapse. Imagine the influence Conservatives could have brought to bear during the election with such an acquisition. Time Warner is selling two of its magazines and The NY Times is selling The Boston Globe.
Granted, this will be expensive and time consuming project but we have no choice. Dire times require bold action. It also requires clear thinking. FACT: Republicans shipped hundreds of millions of dollars to liberal media outlets for campaign ads in 2012. Romney almost spent $1B by himself and most of that went straight into the pockets of liberal media types. Karl Rove’s PAC spent $150M for ads on liberal networks. Does Rove deserve more money based on his 2012 results?
The media liberals got fat and sassy on Republican campaign money, then turned around and donated most of it to Democrat candidates. Allowing that scenario to continue is beyond stupid. We must stop playing one-dimensional Checkers when the game is really three-dimensional Chess.
Bottom Line: Conservatives and Republicans have been funding our political adversaries instead of spending the money on re-taking the media high ground. We must shape the battlefield. We must act, not react. It’s time for wealthy Conservatives to earn some political ROI.
Next week, Part 2: Re-Seed the Ground Game (Education)
Part 3: Re-Shape the Battlefield (Candidates & Party)
