What an election does (and doesn't do) -- Two thoughts to chew on

[stevietheman]

Two years ago, I wrote a blog article " A Tip to the Politically Defeated: Democracy Doesn't End on Election Day".

I wrote this to salve everyone's hurt feelings after Bush's "re-election" and to make a point that is especially salient now: The GOP's win wasn't forever. Democracy is a continuous process. Hopefully, most of you are thinking "Duh!", but I continue to be struck by how many people don't get this.

My first thought, related to this, is not an idea many of us will savor, but it is nevertheless a truism, in my humble opinion. Just because the election is over doesn't mean we are to stop campaigning. The Republicans will inevitably regroup and will campaign against any and all policies Democrats want to pursue. Democrats must campaign back against them, as if we have a new election in May, then another in November 2007, and so forth. Certainly, the biggest concentration must be on governance, but if we are to maintain this majority, we must always think and work as if we're the underdogs and can possibly lose everything, again. Bill Clinton seemingly invented the "continuous campaign", but he was merely emulating a Republican electoral strength. They don't stop and neither should we.

My second thought is about the so-called mainstream (read: corporate) media. It has been assumed by many that the media has been on the GOP's and Bush's side for six years, virtually ignoring the Democrats, because they actually support the policies of the GOP or were afraid to challenge the GOP. No, that is mostly not the case.

The real deal is that the corporate media is all about money and power. They, like much of their audience, is attracted, either positively or negatively, to money and power. Many Americans, whether Republicans or Democrats (or Independents) orient their respect to the wealthy and the powerful, and the corporate media feeds the public what it tacitly expects. For better or worse.

This election changed how the corporate media acts simply because the Democrats dramatically took back the reins of power. The news covers those who are in the driver's seat, not the back seat, of power. That is what they (and their audience) is attracted to.

So, if Democrats want to maintain their news media spotlight, they must do one big thing, in spades: Exercise their power!

To summarize, in contemporary American democracy, campaigning is never-ending, and the powerful get the attention. I believe that we will always have a hard time fighting against these realities, so we must decide to flow with them, or perish.

[stevietheman]

1. shameless afternoon self-kick n/t

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[stevietheman]

2. Apparently, DUers can't handle cod liver oil :) n/t

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[hfojvt]

3. you seem to think that elected Representatives have power

Some, but typically corporations have more, and the M$M is a bunch of corporations. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton come to mind. When they were in office, the press attacked. When Reagan and Bush II were in office, it was teflon and super-teflon.

Another example would be the Gore-Bush election in 2000. As sitting VP, you'd think Gore would have the power and the media would follow that. Instead, they declared war on him. If he said something slightly inaccurate, like did he goto Texas with this person or that person - it was sifted and searched and called a lie. If Bush said something hugely and deliberately untrue, like, "by far the majority of my tax cut goes to those at the bottom" he was never called on it.

I can see the same thing now. Democrats have a majority in Congress, but CBS news wanted to make a big deal about Murtha vs. what's-his-name. It showed that the Democrats were stumbling, according to Schieffer.

It showed me that the media still WANTS Democrats to stumble. Same way our local CBS affiliate thought it was so important and funny to broadcast that some frat in Wisconsin was having a "Howard Dean scream" contest. Yes, it is very important for Kansas City people to hear that 'news'. That was before the election though. I think those Republicans are screaming a different tune now.