If Democrats want to win, talk about the economy and jobs ALL THE TIME.

[AP]

Why do you think the media talked about Terror and Iraq 10 times more often that the public's number one concern: jobs, health care and the economy? It's because they knew Bush would lose and easy corporate profits would dry up (and they'd have to actually work for the money they made) if the talked about the economy.

Here's the report that summarzies media coverage of the primaries. http://www.mediatenor.com/index1.html


A comprehensive study by the media research institute Media Tenor reveals how powerful media coverage can be in influencing actual voter behavior. Statistics prove that month after month voting intentions have been following the general tone of the media coverage of George Bush and John Kerry. "As the tone of coverage improved for President Bush, compared to Kerry, intentions to vote for Bush have also gone up", Roland Schatz, editor-in-chief of Media Tenor says. The approval rating for president Bush were particularly high in August, after intense coverage of the accusations of the "Swiftboat veterans for truth" against Kerry, as well as at the end of September, after Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi visited the US.

Another finding of the study is that president Bush was personally rarely held accountable by the media for the problems in Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal or the attacks of September 11. In the media, defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Pentagon and the military in general were covered in a more negative tone than President Bush. While Bush's Iraq policy was facing extensive criticism in the media, he was not held solely responsible for the situation.

In the last days before the elections the media turned away from Kerry. George Bush looked decisively better than Kerry in most of the polls that were published right before the elections. The economic report from last Friday about the economic trends in the third quarter of 2003 was mainly portrayed in a positive light by ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. "All of the networks showed a visible bias during the whole campaign, with CBS and ABC many times leaning more towards Kerry and Fox leaning more towards Bush", Schatz says.

An ongoing trend during the campaign was the focus of the media on the horse race and the campaign rather than the hard issues. "Especially John Kerry barely made it into the headlines with his positions on policy issues", Schatz observed. Instead, he got the most coverage after his nomination of John Edwards as the candidate for vice president and his military service.

[tk2kewl]

1. And paint neocons as pro-corporation

[Vincardog]

3. FASCIST is the cooperation of Government and Big Business at the expense

of the people. That is what we have here. We have to get the vote back or all is lost.

[Worst Username Ever]

2. Never hang your hat on one issue.

If we concentrate on one issue for 4 years, and then the economy really DOES turn around, then what?

[AP]

5. But do force the media to talk about your strongest issues and the other

side's weakest issues.

If we sit around here on DU complaining about iraq all the time without putting it in the context of the wealth transfer to the rich, and if we don't talk about what Bush is doing to this country economically-speaking, we're not going to win in 2008 either.

I know it's hard to think about the economy because, as this study shows, the media is trying to drown those issues, but it is important for all of us to start, uhm, reframing the debate as one about which direction power is flowing in America.

Afterall, this is the issue that the Republicans exist to serve. Democrats might as well ignore all the distractions and focus on it too.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. Bottom line, they need to operate like an opposition party.

Forget focusing on a single issue and forget bipartisonship. Point out the flaws in the crappy policy decisions as they come up. Scream and carry on about them! Worked for the Republicans and they weren't even pissed off about crappy policies.

[AP]

6. It's not the "single issue." It's the frame. The Republicans exist to...

...shift guaranteed wealth to the wealthy.

Democrats might as well put jobs, health care, and everything else in the proper context so the public can see what the Republicans are doing.

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. I agree. That's pretty much what I'm saying too.

My single issue comment was really directed to one of your respondees.