Media Frame: Repubs Coalesce, Dems in Disarray.

[dchill]

This is the spin, when it seems that McCain can't get the conservatives to get behind him (right now they hate him) and Huckabee refuses to go away quietly - apparently that is coalescence. This is the spin, while the Democratic party field has distilled to two well-liked candidates with fairly similar positions on the issues at hand and lots of money, with many primaries ahead in which to battle it out. Our biggest problem is with party leadership, not with our candidates. Whether or not to count Florida and Michigan delegates is an issue that was supposedly settled and agreed upon before the campaigns started, but is rearing its head again as voices cry out for delegates to be seated, or for some kind of re-do in the two states.

This is not a party that is irretrievably broken along cultural and philosophical lines. This is a party with real values and real ideals that needs to figure out its own rules, and pay attention to its own people. The only disarray is between and within the DLC and the DNC.

[beltanefauve]

1. Watch for class issues

to emerge as part of the spin as well. The MSN pundits have been working the race angle, and the sex angle, but on Super Duper Tuesday I even observed such luminaries as Paul Begala describing the "Walmart" crowd as being in Hillary's camp, and the "Starbuck's" crowd as being in Obama's camp. They're playing "blue-collar dems" against "limosine liberals". One channel I picked up while surfing (I forget which) divided the appeal of each of our candidates into two checklists. Guess what? I fit both categories evenly! I am college-educated and deeply concerned with the Iraq war (which are attributes of those who support Obama) but I am also an over-forty female who is worried about the economy (which according to them makes me a solid Hillary supporter!) Thanks for the broad brush, MSN! The reality is that I have gone back and forth weighing the pros and cons of each of them, and the pros and cons of those who have dropped out as well. And we DO have more than one candidate who would make a very good President! And how many of the people polled in the exit polls are people who made up their minds in the last minute, in the last day, or in the booth? Plenty!

They're also trying to divide us by "young" vs "old". Watch for it!

[dchill]

2. Their term is "class war" ...

They used it against Edwards quite often. I've seen class war all my life, waged by corporate "Americans" and their "foot soldiers" against the rest of us. Race, religion and gender are just screen plays to gull the public into thinking about the Real Big Issue.

[beltanefauve]

7. Ah yes, War

The War on Christmas, the War on Terra, Star Wars, The Evil Empire, The Axis of Evil... everything's a war with those people.

[EFerrari]

3. Straight projection that has nothing to do with what the Democrats

are doing.

For once, there is a healthy competition. Of course the Republics hate that and would rather focus on that than on the real meltdown in their own party.

[dchill]

5. That's fine...

Their entitled to their version of focus. But it just that the media are always willing to play along with whatever fantasy game the thugs want to play.

Republics. HA!

[EFerrari]

6. Of course the media does. The Thuggery owns the media!

One of the best ways I've found to figure out what is happening to THEM is to listen to what they say about us. What they deny, what they accuse us of and in general, the opposite of what they claim.

lol

[dchill]

8. Ah, yes - projection.

They are so good at it.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

4. Media framing our debates and issues again...and we still fall in step