Here is the answer for 2008...its the only chance we have

[Captain Lance Bass]

We had a good team with Kerry/Edwards
We had the base fired up and we were unified.
We won the debates.
We had the advertising dollars.
We were running against the worst administration in US History.
We should have had it in the bag.


What we did not and do not have is a mainstream media voice.

How can you fight a party that owns the am airwaves?

Kerry would say something like the "global test" remark.

I knew what he meant, you know what he meant but within minutes the NRC
would fire off its spin and talking points to Rush, Hannity, Snow and the rest and within hours the spin was now "fact" to millions. Yes some of those listeners were already going to vote for GW but some were not.

On election day Hannity was melting down on the air begging people to GOTV because it looked bad. Those people then phoned friends and so on and so on. Savage said Kerry had won it at 5 pm on Tuesday.

Those lines of folks who were waiting in OH long after dark were not
just die hard Dem's they were the ones that had been given the marching orders from the RNC am radio brigade.

Soros (sp?) and all the others spent MILLIONS in the wrong place.

Negative ads (no matter how much truth there is to them)produced by the Dem's, popping up a few months before the election are useless against the am spin machine. A powerful pro Kerry ad was 30 seconds top...they had 16 hours of air time everyday to tear it to shreds.

We have some awesome left a.m. radio talent...Bernie Ward for one..who not only share our views BUT can articulate it and debate it in a manner that makes sense to the middle of the road guy.

When do I listen to Bernie Ward?

10-pm to 1 am.....no one is listening but us.
Ray Talliaferro?...1 am to 5 am give me a break.
Air America is getting its legs but we need more than that


I am sure all of use here could add a name of someone we listen to who is awesome but only gets 5% of the numbers Limbaugh and Hannity get.

So what do we do?




So what do we do

We need the people who spent the millions last time to start to infiltrate am radio across the nation. Not with ad time but with personalities. If we could buy slots, or radio stations outright we could level the playing field but it has to start soon!

If we do not have our own voice on the airwaves and reaching large numbers withing 12 months its over. Bush is sitting on his own demise right now...he has to deal with everything he created in term #1 and we need voices to hammer it home to the public as he fails.

The rightwing a.m. crew will be justifying and spinning his moves at every step and we need voices to counter it.

Guys its the only way..you have to fight fire with fire.

PS Please do not respond with "it will never work" "whats the point" "no one will listen" etc..I am so sick of posting positive ways to go about making us viable and defeatist shoot it down with a cliche.

If you do not feel it would work reply with logic please.
If you have ideas on how to get this ball rolling let us know.

[DrWeird]

1. If we couldn't win this one...

I don't see how we could win another one.

I say stick a fork in the country, she's done.

[Captain Lance Bass]

2. Did you read my post? We lost because we have no voice eom

[Captain Lance Bass]

3. Should have named this "I give up" or "Fuck it"

it would have got some hits...sad..

[Bush was AWOL]

4. We need to find a Limbaugh

type of guy. AAR is great, but we don't have anyone with that kind of talent.

We need a Howard Stern type of Character with Limbaughs ability to brainwash and spin.

[Captain Lance Bass]

25. We have them....

Bernie Ward
John Rothman
are two that could go head to head with Limbuagh without comming across as over the top.

[Cats Against Frist]

29. No, seriously -- it's me

I'm a girl, which might not have the same authoritarian affect, though. I could split the GOP in two if you gave me a microphone, and I'm not kidding. Maybe you could route my voice through some voice box....:)

[Captain Lance Bass]

34. You got it !

If I have any say :-)

[montana500]

5. great post

"Soros (sp?) and all the others spent MILLIONS in the wrong place."


AGREED. Priooirty number one is to have Soros and his buddies BUY rural radio stations.


PERIOD.

[montana500]

6. great post

"Soros (sp?) and all the others spent MILLIONS in the wrong place."


AGREED. Priooirty number one is to have Soros and his buddies BUY rural radio stations.


PERIOD.

[Captain Lance Bass]

7. Any way of getting this to them?

I am sure they have thought about it.

[Captain Lance Bass]

8. If they got some stations or airtime

and WE supported their advertisers man...

We already have a built in audience of 50 millions people looking for a voice.

[disenfranchised]

9. You're right on.

Someone has to get a cable network going that caters to liberals just as FOX caters to neocons. Half of the voting public does not approve of the current administration and is hungry for an alternative news source. If a more liberal leaning news channel pops up, it will get big ratings from all of us who can't stomach FOX propaganda and the copy cat networks.

It will give us a voice that will spill into the mainstream.

That's my fantasy, at least.

[Captain Lance Bass]

14. We can make it a reality..thanks :-)

[Milo_Bloom]

10. You are 100% correct!

The big problem is that I don't know how possible it is anymore or at least in time for 2008. Limbaugh and his crew didn't pop up overnight. They have had YEARS to establish themelves and take control.

If you really want to do this, you have to sneak up on it. Don't buy AM stations and try to compete directly with that market. It is suicide.

However, you can buy FM stations and try a different tact. Say you get LITEFM stations, some alt rock stations some classic rock stations, etc and then put together a fusion of music, talk and interviews.

If you can hire the proper personalities, you can actually make it work. Once the personality is established, they may be moved over to their own full time talk show, but that is down the road. The idea is to reach people and get them interested.

[Captain Lance Bass]

11. Makes sense to me

[Captain Lance Bass]

12. How about a pettition?

If we made a pettition signed by thousand's and shopped it around to the money poeple we could show them that we have a audience with sponsorship buying power...hmmm

[TimeToGo]

15. WE MUST BOYCOTT

It is important to set up a national boycott aimed at advertisers who advertise on Hannity, O'Reilly, all those FOX guys. And then on to Joe and Tweety on MSNBC, etc. Advertisers who advertise on Rush.

We have to start this.

If companies become nervous about their bottom line, they will rethink their dollars.

[Captain Lance Bass]

17. We should boycott them

but its unlikely that we could get them off the airwaves that way.
I think corps would be chomping at the bit to P/u Limbagh time at a reduced price due to a sponser backing out. Boycott and having a counter voice is the answer.

[TimeToGo]

18. Yes

certainly what you say is true -- but if we don't boycott FOX now, we might never have the chance. I believe with everything I have, that FOX and those like it -- make so much difference in these elections that one can't even measure it.

It is the one reason that I can get past my grief at not getting Kerry in -- I know what they would have done to him. The Swift Boat stuff would have been just the beginning.

[Captain Lance Bass]

20. Just like Whitwater with Bill...

They would have drug it thru the mud.
Well I boycott Fox already :-)

[TimeToGo]

24. Personal Boycott

I AM glad you do -- but again (as I have been saying) a personal boycott doesn't hurt FOX (though it will help your overall health). They don't know if you are watching or not. I am surprised how so many people don't seem to realize this. Unless you are one of the few that are sampled -- no one knows what you watch.

That is why we have to go after the advertisers -- that is the only way to hurt them.

[Captain Lance Bass]

26. So where and how do we start?

I am done with the pity party....Its time for action.
You can bet the Rep's aren't sitting around...resting thinking they have it all won.

[TimeToGo]

28. Here is what I wrote earlier

For those here, I think it would be great to begin to make a list of the advertisers on FOX News Hannity (but I am up for any show).

Then we begin a mass contact of those companies complaining of the show.

My arguments here are:

--balance
--distortions
--hatefullness

Of course, we don't have to go show by show, but I think it is good to have practical first steps

I contacted Media Matters by email today, but haven't heard back yet --

[Captain Lance Bass]

31. Im in!

Lets roll

[Captain Lance Bass]

32. Im in :-)

[TimeToGo]

35. Let's start compiling

We need names of companies. Now, I won't watch Hannity -- but I will tape it, and then fast forward through it to start picking up some company names. It wouldn't be bad for more than one person to start compiling names off of the show -- to make sure we get a good list. Esp. companies that buy lots of time on a regular basis.

Anyone else?

Anyone for Caputuo, O'Reilly, Gibson??

We can start posting the company names and then (I hope) we can DU them till they cry mercy.

But, it won't be easy.

[Captain Lance Bass]

37. I dropped Fox News from my cable but

I will be glad to do some digging and see what I can find.
There has to be a paper trail a mile long on their advertisers.

Lets do this...and do it 100%

[Cinletharwi]

13. Corporate ownership must end

Corporate ownership and control of media, politicians, and government must end.

The only way we will do it

[Captain Lance Bass]

16. Agreed and also

spend our consumer dollars with sponsors of OUR shows,

[stoptheinsanity]

19. Where's our Limbaugh?

(from my own thread)

I agree. One of, perhaps the biggest, problem we've had in this election is the distortion of the democratic positions on issues. We've all had discussions with repugs and realize real quick how unbelievably uninformed they are. The same thing happened in 2000. How does that happen?

Consider that for four years the Rush Limbaugh's of the radio world spew out repug propaganda on every issue under the sun. Hell, they've got whole networks dedicated to repug thinking (see Faux and CBN) and they flush out this crap seven days a week, 24 hours a day. They cover local, state and federal issues and start framing the next election as soon as the last one ends.

What do listeners hear in return....zero, zilch from the democratic side. We need a constant public voice that sets the record straight and provides an alternative view to what people get from Hannity and O'Liely.

On the east and west coasts, I'm sure there are progressive radio shows, but I live in a red state and I'm telling you that no alternative voice exists within 500 miles. Air America is great, but it's only available in relatively few areas and all of them are already solidly blue...they're just preaching to the choir.

This is really pretty simple if you think about it. Alot of reasonable people are basicly brainwashed over a four year period. Why is this so surprising?

[Captain Lance Bass]

21. Its time for us to do

the brainwashing and bleaching and folding :-)

[sendero]

22. We need our own...

... TV network and radio network. Got $200 million lying around?

[Captain Lance Bass]

23. I dont think outright purchase would be needed

It's the airime thats the key and in NORMAL time slots.

[sendero]

30. I'll agree with you...

... but doing it on a national scale costs lots and lots and LOTS of money. AAR might grow and that will help, but it took the pukes 25 years to take over the media and we're not going to get it back overnight.

Limbaugh should have been countered day one, yet we wait 20 years to get started. No wonder we continue to lose.

[Captain Lance Bass]

33. We have to start somewhere

If it takes 20 years so be it.
Its a must not a maybe at this point :-)

[Cattledog]

27. We do need a voice esp on TV

The righty media gets to pound their message night after night on the airwaves. Our message gets lost because of all the noise.

Cd

[Captain Lance Bass]

36. Ya know I have a feeling

ABC, NBC, or CBS is reading this like we are.

"The Dems are 50 million strong..how can we make a buck off them like Faux did with the Right?"

[hippiegranny]

38. I agree with you 100%

the media is one of the keys.

We need to level the playing field by battling this corporate-whore-right-wing media machine, who never met a conservative opinion they wouldn't try to pass off as news, with more progressive outlets that tell the truth and ask that our elected officials be held accountable. Yes, we have Air America which is great, but we need more. NOW.

IN ADDITION:

We also need a modern day Woodward and Bernstein to infiltrate Diebold and bring to light how it managed to hijack the last two elections using hackable, no paper trail voting machines, because believe you me, after this little cake walk, we haven't seen the last of this, and the public deserves to know the truth. I still think we need to address the issue of placebo voting machines. As horrifying as it is to me to have hundreds of millions of red state voters place their version of "values" (gay marriage) above the dead hundreds of thousands smack dab in their living rooms (murder), if the fix hadn't been in in FL and OH via Diebold, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

How come we cannot get a mole insider to blow this fraud voting conspiracy thing wide open? That's what I want to know.

[Captain Lance Bass]

39. Yes, we have Air America

But like you said we need more NOW..we have no chance.
The Bush Christian agenda is on aroll and we need our say!

[Nevernose]

41. So how do we GET more "progressive media outlets?"

This is my question. We all know the problems we face. What do we DO about them?

[Captain Lance Bass]

43. The people with the money have to

be made aware (if not already) of this critical need for OUR side to have its own mainstream voice. I am not well versed in the business of TV or Radio or how we would go about it. I am sure powerfull people have inroads as to how to make this happen...

and happen IT must!

[RevolutionStartsNow]

40. My thoughts

I could not agree more, and was thinking about this earlier today.

The GOP has spent a decade building their infrastructure on 3 fronts:
aggressively seeding local governments with far right conservatives; romancing the college-age vote; and most importantly, taking over the airwaves (which helped them greatly on the first 2 fronts).

Rush Limbaugh is a huge part of their success, for the obvious reasons and also because he paved the way for Hannity and the other loudmouths on the air. Then there's the whole Murdoch Factor.

We absolutely need to mimic their approach, and add: the Internet. I think we're already doing the Net part - they have LGF and FR, but we have DU, Kos, Atrios, and many more. I think we are ahead of the curve and just need to keep it up.

There's no way I would've been this involved if it weren't for the Internet; I think ultimately it's as powerful and potentially more powerful than TV as a medium for political message-making, because it is interactive; you aren't just watching TV or listening to the radio and cheering along with the message, you can take the next step of pushing a button to donate, volunteer , and spread the word to a whole bunch of other people.

But TV and Radio are still a huge part of the equation, and we won't win with the Internet alone. We have to get our Limbaugh and our FOX Cable Shows.

Personally, I like Big Ed. Randi I love but I don't think she appeals to as many people as Ed. Same goes for Al Franken; he's great but might not have that ability to hook people that Limbaugh did.

Jon Stewart can also be a big factor, if he's willing to point all of his guns at Bush.

This is the perfect time for us to attack on this front. Bush is a sitting duck, things are only going to get worse, and "opposition media" will be welcomed and popular in the next few years.

I would love to see all those rich celebrities and people like Soros invest some serious money in Left Wing Media. The rest of us can concentrate on the Internet, which is mostly grassroots and doesn't have as costly an entry fee.

Thanks for posting this, it's productive and also critical.

[Captain Lance Bass]

42. Well Said n/t

[Nordic]

44. I say we start by literally beating the shit out of the Coulters, Hannity'

Savages, etc.

They are bullies and they will go away if we show them that we really don't appreciate the hate speech.

And hell, live by the sword, die by the sword, you know?

[Captain Lance Bass]

45. Beat em at their own game! :-)

[KWBS]

46. From a Republican that backed Kerry - Edwards

In 1980 the South had 26 Democratic Senators, today it has 4. If you look at the national "red versus blue" map at both State and County level it is not hard to see that the DNC has become very isolated from the mainstream of this nation.

2 to 1 Americans classify themselves as conservatives and many moderates vote to the right, not the left on many issues.

Bush has one Achilles Heel that will bring him down, take the wind out of his Imperial Sails and that is 9-11.

I was part of the 9-11 Confronting the Evidence in NYC this year. I was part of the criminal complaint that was delivered to Eliot Spitzer on October 28, 2004.

Over 55 million voted against and many of those voters were ecumenical Christians you people are blindly bashing. They were Conservative Republicans and Libertarians that crossed over to try to stop the Bush Junta and the fascism that is represents.

Right here in Arkansas - two key counties that NEVER vote REP did vote Republican this year. Jefferson and Nevada counties and there were others.

The problem with DNC is DNC and that it represents the fringe left and that is NOT America folks. 2 to 1 says this nation is a conservative nation and one that puts certain values front and center every time.

www.karlschwarz.com

http://www.reopen911.org/petition.php

http://www.justicefor911.org /

All of this talk about running Hillary Clinton in 2008. The RNC has been ready to destroy her since 1994. The strategy that took the House and Senate away from Clinton was designed and largely financed by me. Again, run Hillary, rash into the side of the mountain. They are just waiting for another stupid DNC move.

I took a stand for America, freedom, a turning away from Imperialism and fascism. I have received hundreds of emails from Dems asking what to do now. Frankly, DNC is not "resuscitate-able" in its current form. Lest no one noticed, Bush now controls a stronger US Senate and that is more frightening than him being there for 4 more years.

Every person that voted against Bush should be on those petitions linked above.

It is the only hope you have to stopping Bush, and I am the only Republican of the 100 original names on the petition.

If you have not done so, go to my website under Articles and read the DEMAND LETTER that I sent to Bush September 30, 2004 about 7 hours before the first debate and THEN - get this CLEARLY INTO YOUR HEADS -

that DEMAND LETTER was sent to DNC and Kerry too and they did not use it in the debates to evicerate Bush. CONSIDER THAT!

Both sides of the aisle are covering up 9-11 folks, who did it, who is profiting from it and they are AMERICANS.

Ashcroft was forced to resign due to that letter and I was advised from DC yesterday to NOT accept that as the sacrificial offering and let the rest of the DOERS OF 9-11 OFF THE HOOK!

Wake up Dems.

Karl

[Nordic]

47. thanks for that

Have you started any threads with this information?

If you haven't, you should

[Captain Lance Bass]

48. Great post :-)