"Democrats are worried," and other tales of false equivalency in the media

[jpgray]

The first thing to note with "Democrats are concerned Obama isn't doing x" is that the concerned party is rarely if ever directly identified. Is it a former Clinton adviser, such as Carville or Begala? Is it an easily led and mostly clueless spokesperson such as Donna Brazile? Is it a fiery progressive congressperson (probably not)?

This identification seems unimportant to the media in large part because the GOP is so monolithic in terms of its identity -and- in terms of its message control. A few hours into the day, every GOP politician or pundit is provided with talking points. We've seen it with Palin ("commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard!"), and we've seen it with everything else. Their number of independent voices approaches zero, and in terms of media acknowledgment it -is- frequently zero.

Therefore, any GOP spokesperson can be safely assumed to be speaking the direct message of the McCain campaign. The same is expected of Democrats, despite the party being by no means as united as the GOP. Internet columnists, bloggers, and old DLC figures are identified directly with the Obama campaign despite an overwhelming disparity between their respective talking points and focus. For example, note the unquestioned reports that Obama is "obsessed" with Palin. Obama himself and his campaign surrogates have almost never directly attacked Palin, and have instead focused on issues and McCain. So why do we still hear that Obama is "distracted" by Palin and isn't talking about the issues or McCain?

Because the coverage is essentially 24/7 Palin at the moment, and all spokespersons and pundits brought on board are unfailingly asked about the issue du jour. If it isn't Palin directly, it's "lipstick on a pig" or another trivial distraction. Because Democratic supporters unaffiliated with the campaign naturally focus on issues with high exposure and are identified directly with Obama's campaign, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

Don't take from this the idea that we need a monolithic message machine in the mold of the GOP. I doubt anyone would argue Kucinich and McDermott should shut the fuck up about impeachment, for example. Take from it the knowledge that this "concern" is mostly overblown, and is not fairly reported. False equivalency is something to watch out for and write in about, especially when the story about the "lipstick on a pig" is: "Why are -both- candidates talking about superficial stuff?" rather than identifying the source as McCain exclusively.

[hvn_nbr_2]

1. I can tell you who's saying that the Dems are worried

"Some people"

[jpgray]

3. "Some" undoubtedly are. What's the character code for that backwards E logic symbol?

:silly:

[Festivito]

12. font color="black" size="large" face="symbol"

font color="black" size="large" face="symbol"
'
/font
(Assuming you know to use square brackets.)

Get the character in Windows from Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Character Chart/... Choose font "symbol" and visually search, it's near the top.

Or, copy from above, and paste where you want.

[dkofos]

2. The Dems are worried. They are worried that the election will be stolen AGAIN!!

[jpgray]

4. McCain's voter caging techniques warrant some more coverage

[dkofos]

5. We can force any story to the top of the news. The independant media

just has to talk about it until the M$M catches up.

[jpgray]

6. It was a huge story in Ohio as well for '08

When it will get above the fold is anyone's guess

[leftchick]

8. Apparently not the democrats that could actually address it in congress

very strange.

[Senator]

7. Trouble Is, Only Kucinich And McDermott Are Sending A Real Message

With Obama joining the rest of the (always-worried) DC-Dems in http://talkingimpeachment.com/blog/Hall-of-Shame-Inductee----Barak-Obama.html">their impeachophobic cowering to bushcheney, the only message he is sending is one of weakness and failure to object, to confront, to ACT.

Which is why the business-as-usual, insider, rhetoric-only "message" he's trying to send can't get much beyond the margins of the party faithful. As usual, the always-worried strategerists thought they'd coast on the "worst environment for repubs in generations."

Real Democrats should be worried.

----

[EFerrari]

9. I'm worried there won't be an open hotel room to drop dead in

after I dance my @ss off at the inaugural.

[jpgray]

11. :-)

[Thegonagle]

10. Uh oh! Concern trolls in the mainstream media? We're doomed! I'm concerned

about how they plan to steal this election. It's not too hard to stuff the electronic ballot boxes if there's not a secure chain of custody for the memory cards.

We need paper ballots everywhere.

I like optical scan machines just fine, because the paper ballots can always be recounted. Seriously, the entire USA needs to take an in-depth look at how Minnesota does it. Even with a Repuke SOS in 04, they couldn't touch us--lots and lots of checks and balances, and we happen to use technology to our advantage, and have fail-safes in case of technical difficulties. Oh, and we even have same-day registration pretty well figured out, even if the voter just moved and doesn't have a current ID yet.

[samuraiguppy]

13. this Demoocrat isn't worried nt

[KillCapitalism]

14. Given what's going on with the economy/markets...

the Republicans are the ones who are going to need to be worried.

[and-justice-for-all]

15. My President isn't a fucking liar...

So what am I supposed to be worried about?