by Dr. Ellen Brandt
If the existing Mainstream Media is prone to prejudice or outright bias, Republicans need to apply polite but firm pressure on Internet gatekeepers to change the shape, size, and scope of what is considered Mainstream.
As promised in our last article, we want to make some specific and concrete suggestions about what GOP leadership can do to alter the balance of power within the so-called Mainstream - or widely read - portion of the Media, especially focusing on Internet-based Media.
There are two paths towards correcting this bias, seen as widespread and persistent, which presents Democratic Party candidates, pundits, ideology, and agendas in a favorable light, while presenting Republican candidates, pundits, ideology, and agendas in a far less favorable light.
First, we can attempt to assist existing publications and sites, including social media sites, which have a stake in appearing unbiased and politically inclusive. We can work with them directly and help them recruit and feature GOP writers, editors, candidates, and viewpoints, while changing various internal technical factors, which may be impeding their sites' avowed neutrality.
It is also important to work with Internet gatekeepers, such as search engines and media consolidators, whose current pattern and practice may be geared - either accidentally or deliberately - to featuring publications, individual articles, podcasts, and other kinds of media which boost the exposure of Democrats and their favored constituencies, while stifling reader and viewer exposure for Republicans and our important constituencies.
The second path towards a fairer and more inclusive Mainstream is taking an active role in creating brand-new Internet entities - publications, social media sites, GOP-oriented search engines and Republican-friendly media consolidators - which together would form an Alternative Mainstream Media universe, not just supplementing what exists now, but also, if correctly promoted, serving as an effective GOP Internet infrastructure.
Republican readers and viewers would be able to turn to our sites first in their search for news, research, opinion, and interactivity which treats Republicans and Republican thought fairly and honestly, without having to wade through the virtual morass of bias or sometimes outright smarminess that dominates Internet political news and commentary now.
The above is not an either-or prescription, and both paths toward change have to be pursued simultaneously, with the endorsement and guidance of the RNC and major think tanks, candidate organizations, and PACs. As many and as varied Republican groups as possible at the national, state, and local level should be persuaded to join in this concerted effort.
Here, then, some specific suggestions, as we work towards a Media Mainstream which includes and welcomes Republicans:
The Already-Existing MSM - Stop Blackballing Us and Grant Us Full Membership
Maybe it's because so many of the current crop of webmasters and others involved in nitty-gritty Internet operations are males under the age of 30, with technical educations and lifetimes of playing video games and minor league hacking behind them. (No, this is not my personal bias speaking. It is quite literally true.)
Whatever the reasons, the existing Mainstream Media now has the feel of a jokey and smarmy Animal House-like fraternity, with the Nerds enjoying their full Revenge and relegating whomever they see as the Clean-Cut Kids to near invisibility.
Think of the GOP as the Clean-Cut Kids, being blackballed mercilessly and kept out of the Web Visibility frat house.
No matter. Turn the other cheek. Let bygones be bygones. The Past is just Prologue. And all those good, wholesome, moral attitudes, which most Republicans already live by, anyway.
This time can be different, if - again - the RNC, the PACs, the GOP oriented pundits and think tanks, and every other Republican-leaning group we can think of comes aboard and acts in a concerted fashion.
Some of the key things we need to do or have done by the gatekeepers are technical and mechanical:
***** I admit that I myself am not enamored of SEO/SEM techniques - search engine optimization and management - which are basically artificial, algorithmically-based formulae for upping one's Internet stats of various kinds by "sharing" - i.e. stealing - other sites' stats and/or improving one's visibility on search engines by knocking other sites' search visibility down a notch.
I do not utilize SEO/SEM in terms of my own blogs, sites, or Internet groups. But that's just me.
The cold, hard fact is that the Democratic Party, its candidates, its PACs, and its supporting groups of various kinds pretty much all are slavishly devoted to SEO/SEM, while the majority of Republican Party operatives, activists, candidates, and groups won't even know what I'm talking about.
To level the playing field, pure and simple, the GOP, under the aegis of the RNC, needs to allow existing staff members - we're certain they're there already, mostly very young and mostly former marketing majors - to pull out all the stops on GOP-oriented SEO/SEM. Let this be these staffers' near-full-time job for a few short months, and we'll see marked improvement almost immediately.
***** One very specific technical improvement, not SEO/SEM-linked, is pressuring the search engines - all of 'em, domestically and those based abroad - to make sure GOP-favorable publications, blogs, newsletters, pollsters, researchers, pundits, and social media sites are all included in the News listings, as well as in the much broader Web listings, at their sites.
Although the Web listings, I find, are far superior in terms of inclusiveness and accuracy, they are almost totally ignored by news consolidators and news "scrapers," which are generally the vehicles for getting topics, candidates, and authors into the "trending" and "political buzz" Mainstreams, which now dominate the Internet, whether we classically-trained journalists, researchers, and activists like it or not.
These vehicles - consolidators and scrapers - are fixated on News, rather than Web, listings. And some from-the-top persuasion from the RNC and other Republican influencers would, I believe, elicit immediate "Sure, we'd be happy to," compliance from most search engines, which are themselves fixated on increasing Internet viewership from actual Humans, rather than Script Bots.
Recent research shows Internet readers and viewers - so-called "eyeballs"- are now only 35 percent or so actual Human beings, with 65 percent of Internet-based "eyeballs" belonging to Script Bots, powered by artificial intelligence.
We Republicans on the Internet tend to be actual Humans! So we're really very, very valuable as "eyeballs." We just need to stress this point and be as persuasive as we can about it.
***** Re the publications which make up the existing Mainstream Media: Whether or not politics is their major beat, I think many of them can be persuaded to improve their reporting and editorial coverage of the GOP, if we can show that it is to their own advantage to do so.
We - again, collectively, under the aegis of the RNC and major Republican groups - should make these very simple and totally true arguments:
***There are at least as many Americans who identify as Republicans as Democrats, with more than half of Independents now trending towards GOP candidates in this election cycle.
***There are very broad spectrums of political opinion, within both major Parties and within the citizenry as a whole, on any number of key current issues, which means taking a narrow partisan stance on any of these issues is an egregious mistake.
***Populism is a vibrant force within both major Parties as well as within the electorate as a whole, so that being too "politically correct" is now looked at askance by what is probably a significant majority of potential readers and viewers.
***And the MSM itself has become more and more mistrusted, especially by Republicans and Independents.
***Ergo, Fellas: You are losing readers and viewers, and you will continue to lose them, unless you begin to shape up, look sharp, say your mea culpas, and decide to tailor headlines, reporting, and coverage to all Americans, not just a small partisan slice of the electorate which shares the views of your (too-young, too-Elitist, too-biased, and insufficiently-tolerant-of-all-viewpoints) current cadre of editors and reporters.
***** Moving on to the social media sites: There, a combination of editorially-oriented persuasion and operational tweaking may be needed.
Many of the major social media sites have an editorial component, like LinkedIn's Pulse, which features articles from whatever group of "thought leaders" in-house editors favor. And in tune with the bias and prejudice throughout today's MSM, these "thought leaders" have tended to be Democratic Party-friendly and/or to write about topics and push agendas that could come straight from a staff memo at Hillary Clinton's campaign.
The social media sites are stubborn and set in their ways, so it's going to take steady, polite but firm, pressure from the Republican establishment to persuade them to alter their editorial focus. Start applying such pressure now and use the same arguments we outlined in our discussion of existing Mainstream Media publications above.
On the operational side, there are quite a few member-owned and member-managed groups at social media sites which purport to be "Republican," but are, in fact, extremely narrowly-focused and exclusive in their approach, seeming to feature a never-ending stream of postings by wild-eyed men (literally - their official photos all look like Rasputin on Acid, and none of them are women), covering incendiary topics in incendiary formats.
These groups and these posts seem caricatures to us, rather than legitimate political discourse - so much so that we have often wondered whether those managing and posting in such groups were not actually Democratic Party operatives having "fun" with elaborate Dirty Tricks.
In any case, Republican leaders' stance so far has been similar to its stance towards rabid and rabble-rousing talk radio hosts, who claim to be part of the GOP, but often do Republicans more harm than good.
Social media sites are different from the public universe of radio channels, however, since radio-based free-for-all sites are self-selecting, and few listeners who don't want to be there will be there.
In contrast, the major Internet social media sites have very wide and diverse audiences, and the Party should want to make a favorable impression in terms of these sites' entire audience base, rather than "turning off" potential GOP readers and viewers.
So perhaps we should at least consider politely persuading the talk-radio-style, in-your-face "Republican" groups to cool things down a bit; try to be polite to all fellow Republicans and non-Republicans who venture there; and also try to solicit at least some material which is thoughtful and substantive, rather than posted for pure shock value.
My Way and the Highway: Working Towards a Broader, More Inclusive Alternative GOP Mainstream
The second path towards shaping a Republican-friendly MSM is expanding what's already part of the Mainstream with brand-new publications, social media sites, media consolidators, and search engines of our own.
***** The effort can - and probably should - start with the RNC's own existing sites, which some have said are difficult to use; tend not to be based in real time; have too little material included; and don't sufficiently allow the Voices of rank-and-file Republicans - or even officeholders from the states and local jurisdictions - to be heard.
The Party needs to prove - and probably to state - that it truly and honestly wants its image and its practice to be that of the inclusive, vibrant, non-politically-correct "Big Tent" Party this nation now wants and needs. Everything we proceed to do will follow from taking this statement to heart and living by it as a Party and as individual Republicans.
***** For instance, one RNC-sanctioned site I believe we could set up immediately and easily might be a comprehensive, continually-updated on-line GOP magazine, welcoming and including articles and other media from any bona fide GOP'er who wishes to submit them.
By all means, impose strict editorial standards on such material, rejecting anything that is poorly written or unprofessionally produced. But encourage journalists, researchers, academics, strategists, and pundits across the Republican political spectrum to contribute. Encourage submissions from those working at the state and local level, rather than nationally. And encourage discussions of topics to which the existing MSM is giving short shrift or ignoring completely.
If well done - and why shouldn't it be, given the degree of raw intellect, sophistication, and passion prevalent throughout our Party? - such a GOP magazine would quickly become the "go-to" source for Republicans on the Internet - the first place they "traveled to" when coming on-line at the start of their days.
Moreover, we'd also hope that very quickly, the existing Mainstream Media would make such a site a "go-to" source for their own reporting and editorial efforts, automatically forcing them to begin to understand what Republicans nationwide are thinking about, care about, and want the rest of the nation - and the world - to know about us.
***** Similarly, although not necessarily under the aegis of the RNC, we believe it would be very beneficial if several new social media sites aimed at a Republican audience were formed over the course of the next few months.
Such sites could have editorial components, where news stories and other media from a GOP viewpoint could be featured. But they would primarily be vehicles for Republicans to connect with, correspond with, and have Internet conversations with one another, within a friendly, respectful, and polite environment, where every site user were given an equal Voice.
Clearly, such sites could become especially useful if elected officials, candidates, and activists of all kinds and from every level of government and the Party utilized them in an honest, active, and consistent manner, truly seeking to make friends, exchange ideas, explicate policies and agendas, and develop constituencies both locally and nationally.
We're hoping that one such site will be developed under our Party of Yes imprimatur. But we'd be delighted if our intended site were only one among several, with specialized social media sites for Republicans part of the mix: sites geared to academics and other scholars, for example, or sites geared to local government initiatives.
***** We also think it might be an excellent idea for the RNC and other Republican leaders to give their official blessing to one or several consolidator sites and/or GOP-oriented search engines.
These would be vehicles for finding and cataloguing new GOP-friendly blogs, academic articles, think tank white papers, polls, videos, and other media on a daily or more frequent basis - in the case of search engines - and choosing the most interesting among them as daily or more frequent "feeds" to subscribers who are interested - in the case of consolidators.
We would expect that such subscribers to GOP feeds would soon include many reporters and editors who are part of the current Mainstream, because their jobs would be made easier and more efficient by subscribing.
(Note that "subscriptions" via feeds generally do not mean paid subscriptions - although they sometimes do. A feed subscription, in Web parlance, is placing oneself as an individual, organization, or fellow media outlet on an Internet mailing list to receive updated information.)
End-Note
We've made the various suggestions in this story in the spirit of flexible cooperation and friendship towards every person and institution within the Republican fold.
Under no circumstance do we wish to criticize what has been done up to this point. We believe that as Republicans, we have all acted in good faith, working hard to make our Voices heard within the existing Mainstream Media, despite its enormous limitations.
In return we've all-too-often been attacked, lied about, scorned, and ridiculed. Even more significant - and even worse - Media outlets which are clearly not the Party's friends have consistently and insistently attempted to steer us in directions which are not in our best interests, operationally or ideologically.
Many of us believe it is extraordinarily positive and well-nigh miraculous that so many Republicans - candidates, officeholders, activists, and rank-and-file alike - have spontaneously taken up the cry of "Mainstream Media Fairness" at this particular juncture. Through our collective action, we can make immense improvements prior to and throughout Election Year 2016.
Monday, November 9, 2015
The Party of "Yes, We Can"
by Dr. Ellen Brandt
As promised in our last story, we want to explicate briefly once more just what we hope to accomplish through our Party of Yes efforts on the Internet and in social media.
We're reiterating this agenda, because after the quite extraordinary and brand-new kind of activism addressing both the GOP presidential debates and their format and the need to strike back against an out-of-control "Mainstream Media," a large number of Republicans seem to be coming around to views which Robert, Ellen, and the Party of Yes have been urging our fellow GOP'ers to adopt.
So once more, the main tasks before us:
***** Push the existing "Mainstream Media," especially on the Internet, to treat the Republican Party, its candidates, its activists, its commentators, and its Base of members - every bit as large and respectable and influential as the Democratic Party's membership Base - with seriousness, humanity, decency, and "gravitas," according to the GOP's central place within American politics and American life.
We will devote the next article in this series to some practical suggestions about how to do this, preferably with the full support of the RNC and the full roster of GOP presidential candidates and their campaign staffs.
***** Focus especially on establishing a more active and comprehensive "Big Tent" Republican presence within social media, including growing our LinkedIn and Facebook Groups and gently persuading some other existing Groups, which claim to be Republican in outlook, but which paint a limited, strident, or unattractive portrait of GOP thought, to expand their horizons and welcome the full spectrum of Republicans into their narrow arenas.
***** Set up a dedicated Party of Yes Internet site, if possible in conjunction with the RNC and other important Republican oversight groups. We'd also be delighted to assist the RNC in making its own existing Internet forums easier to use and more welcoming to GOP'ers of all stripes, if they'll let us.
***** Try - hard! - to persuade the RNC, the (few) parts of the "MSM" in GOP or neutral hands, and influential GOP think tanks and advocacy groups to embrace as an important "outreach" constituency the fully one-half of Republican voters who are age 50 and over.
Our "Gray Base" within the GOP is in no way a liability, as so many Democratic Party operatives and publications have been telling us. In contrast, it is a significant asset for and to the Republican Party, with over 2 in 5 Americans now age 50 or over and close to 50 percent of all US voters part of our "Gray" population - not only in 2016, but also in the future presidential cycles of 2020, 2024, and 2028.
We will likely publish quite a few additional stories on the GOP's (wonderful, helpful, incredibly important) "Gray Base" over the course of the upcoming election year.
***** In addition to persuading the existing "Mainstream Media" to work towards eliminating its bias against Republicans, our ideas, and our candidates, the Party of Yes believes that the GOP needs to create a wide and inclusive "Alternative Mainstream Media," especially on the Internet, consisting of publications and social media sites geared towards Republicans and our interests.
No better use can be made of GOP funds and influence in this historically important - indeed, crucial - presidential election cycle than actively and diligently working towards transforming what is considered "Mainstream" and making sure that Republicans and Republican ideas and agendas are as well-represented within Media channels as are Democrats and their ideas and agendas.
***** We had hoped all of the GOP presidential candidates and their staffs would quickly choose to join our new Party of Yes Groups at LinkedIn and Facebook and utilize them as "base camps" within social media to give interviews, contribute to opinion pieces, and circulate their ideas within social media under our aegis.
That has not happened yet, but we still hope it will happen as this election cycle proceeds.
***** We also wish to use both the LinkedIn and Facebook Groups and the future dedicated Party of Yes site, as useful "base camps" for GOP candidates and activists from state and local constituencies.
We maintain that the majority of existing GOP sites, even those run by the RNC, have been somewhat difficult to use, nowhere near well-known enough - certainly not utilized enough! - and perhaps not yet inclusive enough to stimulate the enthusiastic activism of Republicans across the Party's nationwide political spectrum.
Making a dedicated Party of Yes site a key focus in efforts to set up an "Alternative Mainstream for Republicans" would be useful, we believe, not only because the Founders are champing at the bit to get this effort rolling, but also because we believe the Party of Yes moniker and what it stands for are finally being understood and accepted by many leaders and activists within the Party.
Republicans, not the Other Major Party, have now unfurled the true "Big Tent" and are happy to welcome all constituencies.
Republicans, not the Other Major Party, are demonstrating that we shun the narrowly "politically correct," in favor of respectful, but also vibrant and forthright discussion and debate on key issues facing our nation.
Republicans, not the Other Major Party, are striving to give a Voice that is heard to every individual and every group within our fold, rather than permitting a tiny cadre of arrogant "thought leaders" and celebrities, anointed by fiat, to tell the rest of America what to do and how to think.
We Republicans - here and now -are the revivified and reignited Party of Yes. And the Party of "Yes, We Can."
As promised in our last story, we want to explicate briefly once more just what we hope to accomplish through our Party of Yes efforts on the Internet and in social media.
We're reiterating this agenda, because after the quite extraordinary and brand-new kind of activism addressing both the GOP presidential debates and their format and the need to strike back against an out-of-control "Mainstream Media," a large number of Republicans seem to be coming around to views which Robert, Ellen, and the Party of Yes have been urging our fellow GOP'ers to adopt.
So once more, the main tasks before us:
***** Push the existing "Mainstream Media," especially on the Internet, to treat the Republican Party, its candidates, its activists, its commentators, and its Base of members - every bit as large and respectable and influential as the Democratic Party's membership Base - with seriousness, humanity, decency, and "gravitas," according to the GOP's central place within American politics and American life.
We will devote the next article in this series to some practical suggestions about how to do this, preferably with the full support of the RNC and the full roster of GOP presidential candidates and their campaign staffs.
***** Focus especially on establishing a more active and comprehensive "Big Tent" Republican presence within social media, including growing our LinkedIn and Facebook Groups and gently persuading some other existing Groups, which claim to be Republican in outlook, but which paint a limited, strident, or unattractive portrait of GOP thought, to expand their horizons and welcome the full spectrum of Republicans into their narrow arenas.
***** Set up a dedicated Party of Yes Internet site, if possible in conjunction with the RNC and other important Republican oversight groups. We'd also be delighted to assist the RNC in making its own existing Internet forums easier to use and more welcoming to GOP'ers of all stripes, if they'll let us.
***** Try - hard! - to persuade the RNC, the (few) parts of the "MSM" in GOP or neutral hands, and influential GOP think tanks and advocacy groups to embrace as an important "outreach" constituency the fully one-half of Republican voters who are age 50 and over.
Our "Gray Base" within the GOP is in no way a liability, as so many Democratic Party operatives and publications have been telling us. In contrast, it is a significant asset for and to the Republican Party, with over 2 in 5 Americans now age 50 or over and close to 50 percent of all US voters part of our "Gray" population - not only in 2016, but also in the future presidential cycles of 2020, 2024, and 2028.
We will likely publish quite a few additional stories on the GOP's (wonderful, helpful, incredibly important) "Gray Base" over the course of the upcoming election year.
***** In addition to persuading the existing "Mainstream Media" to work towards eliminating its bias against Republicans, our ideas, and our candidates, the Party of Yes believes that the GOP needs to create a wide and inclusive "Alternative Mainstream Media," especially on the Internet, consisting of publications and social media sites geared towards Republicans and our interests.
No better use can be made of GOP funds and influence in this historically important - indeed, crucial - presidential election cycle than actively and diligently working towards transforming what is considered "Mainstream" and making sure that Republicans and Republican ideas and agendas are as well-represented within Media channels as are Democrats and their ideas and agendas.
***** We had hoped all of the GOP presidential candidates and their staffs would quickly choose to join our new Party of Yes Groups at LinkedIn and Facebook and utilize them as "base camps" within social media to give interviews, contribute to opinion pieces, and circulate their ideas within social media under our aegis.
That has not happened yet, but we still hope it will happen as this election cycle proceeds.
***** We also wish to use both the LinkedIn and Facebook Groups and the future dedicated Party of Yes site, as useful "base camps" for GOP candidates and activists from state and local constituencies.
We maintain that the majority of existing GOP sites, even those run by the RNC, have been somewhat difficult to use, nowhere near well-known enough - certainly not utilized enough! - and perhaps not yet inclusive enough to stimulate the enthusiastic activism of Republicans across the Party's nationwide political spectrum.
Making a dedicated Party of Yes site a key focus in efforts to set up an "Alternative Mainstream for Republicans" would be useful, we believe, not only because the Founders are champing at the bit to get this effort rolling, but also because we believe the Party of Yes moniker and what it stands for are finally being understood and accepted by many leaders and activists within the Party.
Republicans, not the Other Major Party, have now unfurled the true "Big Tent" and are happy to welcome all constituencies.
Republicans, not the Other Major Party, are demonstrating that we shun the narrowly "politically correct," in favor of respectful, but also vibrant and forthright discussion and debate on key issues facing our nation.
Republicans, not the Other Major Party, are striving to give a Voice that is heard to every individual and every group within our fold, rather than permitting a tiny cadre of arrogant "thought leaders" and celebrities, anointed by fiat, to tell the rest of America what to do and how to think.
We Republicans - here and now -are the revivified and reignited Party of Yes. And the Party of "Yes, We Can."
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
May You Live in Interesting Times - and Be Part of an Interesting Party
by Dr. Ellen Brandt
The past seven weeks of GOP turmoil may seem more like seven years, so much has happened. But we contend it's a healthy and productive turmoil, in stark contrast to the goose-stepping "solidarity" of the Other Side.
Right before the Reagan Library debate on September 16th, we decided - intentionally - to refrain from commentary on the Republican presidential race and related events, hoping to observe what "shook out."
And indeed, in the immortal words of Jerry Lee Lewis, "There's been a whole lotta shakin' goin' on."
It's been quite unusual shakin', however, with events unfolding in ways hardly anyone would have imagined a few short months ago.
Below, our take on some of these events and others to come.
But first, a word on the Party of Yes and how we hope to proceed.
In the next blog in this series, which we'll post tomorrow, we will restate just what it is we're working towards; how we hope to accomplish it; and why we urge the RNC and other GOP leading lights - including every Republican candidate, Caucus, and PAC - to support these efforts.
We maintain that the vast majority of the so-called Mainstream Media, particularly on the Internet, are firmly biased - in fact, prejudiced - supporters of the Other Major Party and its candidates.
We can't change Them. But we can change Us - how we present ourselves; how we work with other Republicans - all other Republicans; and how we unite our various factions, continue to expand our Base, and fashion and express strong and coherent messages about the issues which unify us and our overall values and principles as committed members of the GOP.
Much more about this in tomorrow's story and future stories.
Back to That "Shakin' Goin' On"
Here are some of the major GOP events of the past seven weeks and our personal "take" on these events, from our Party of Yes perspective: positive, optimistic, constructive, and supporting an inclusive "Big Tent" Republican Party.
***** Rick Perry Returns to His Ranch: Five days before the Reagan Library debate, on September 11th, Candidate Rick Perry, the popular, long-time former Governor of Texas, bowed out of the race, after failing to catch fire with big donors and running dangerously short of cash with which to campaign.
Our quick take: We very much like Governor Perry and are sorry he decided not to hang on. Largely the victim of the Mainstream Media and its (way too large) effect on donors, he was ridiculed by various Pundit-Bullies - and by fellow GOP Candidate Trump - for such shallow reasons as switching to black horn-rimmed glasses "to appear more intelligent."
(In reality, Perry's eyesight has probably deteriorated with age - as anyone over age 50 will tell you it's apt to do. Many people find that the alternative to glasses, contact lenses, cause too much glare when combined with the bright lights used for television or press conferences.)
Perry, among the oldest Baby Boomers - as are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina all age 60 or older - should be roundly applauded as the sole Candidate so far to acknowledge the importance of our "Gray" population over age 50, who will make up about 1/2 of all voters in 2016 and have lately skewed very strongly towards the Republican Party.
We believe Perry should have stressed his support for the Party's "Gray Base" even more vehemently. And while the Governor did highlight the State of Texas's superb educational improvement and job creation record during his tenure, he could have become the major champion of Resources and Manufacturing, Texas and other "Red State" mainstays, by stressing how these parts of the economy have suffered under President Obama's ill-thought-out anti-Resources, anti-Manufacturing, too-strong-USDollar policies.
In other words, Perry, the quintessential Texan, should have been more Texan.
***** Scott Walker Walks His Blazing Career Back Home to Wisconsin: Five days after the second debate at the Reagan Library, on September 21st, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, at one time considered the front-runner for the nomination, bowed out of the Presidential race. Like Perry, Walker cited lagging largesse from big donors as a key deterrent to making an effective bid.
Our quick take: Walker's abbreviated candidacy shocked pretty much everyone, including us, not least because he had been considered - the Mainstream Media told us he was! - the "personal pick" of the all-powerful Koch Brothers and their all-powerful circle of all-powerful people.
I guess they changed their mind.
From our perspective of looking for the best in each GOP candidate, we thought Governor Walker put in truly excellent performances at both GOP debates in which he participated. He has a lovely - even a "sweet" - personality, exuding the same kind of Midwestern wholesomeness that first brought Ronald Reagan to public awareness.
But from our "Big Tent" perspective of inclusiveness - which also recognizes the need to bring Independents and Democrat-crossover votes to the GOP - it's possible that Governor Walker's celebrity as an anti-union activist harmed his incipient campaign.
We gather from talking to those with far better knowledge of Midwestern politics than we have that there's a fair bit of pure misunderstanding surrounding this issue. Walker has been strongly anti-public sector unions, which he rightly sees as bloated and operating in an antiquated fashion. But he has, insist colleagues, a far more lenient view of private sector unions, especially those in the Manufacturing industries, important to any economic rebound in the Midwest and the nation. Walker needs to stress this and to beef up his standing among blue-collar voters in general in any future runs for national office.
It's also possible that the very fact of the Koch interests' early support for Walker - again, touted in story after story from the Mainstream press - proved to be a barrier to his candidacy, rather than a boost, in a cycle when many Republicans seem to be turning away from "kingmakers" and their perceived interference with the independence of the rank-and-file.
***** The Fall of John Boehner and the Rise of the Freedom Caucus - Followed by the Fall of Kevin McCarthy and the Rise of Him? Her? Him? Him? Him? Her? - And Yes!, There's Paul Ryan On a Beautiful White Steed
After months of wrangling over what seemed like dozens of issues both important and less-so - and their related legislation - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who had been in Congress for 25 years, House Republican leader for almost 10 years, and Speaker for 5 years, announced on September 23rd that he would not only be resigning his post as Speaker, but also retiring and giving up his House seat.
Blame or praise for Boehner's momentous resignation - or cries of "Who the heck are they?" - fell at the feet of a group of about 40 GOP House members, previously not widely-heralded, known as the Freedom Caucus, although Boehner had been clashing on various issues with far better-known and more influential groups within the House, too, including the Republican Study Committee, the Conservative caucus which has over 170 members, including many long-time House leaders.
Boehner's second-in-command, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, immediately stepped up to the plate and said he wanted to be Speaker - only to withdraw his name from contention a mere 9 days later, after putting his foot in his mouth - or so the Media widely said - over comments about the Benghazi subcommittee and its efforts to investigate Hillary Clinton's handling of the attack at the Libyan consulate and its aftermath.
McCarthy's withdrawal led to a feeding frenzy in that portion of the political Mainstream Media which leans towards Democrats - i.e. pretty much all of it. As previously stated, we intend to devote future blogs to discussions of the current irresponsibility of the "MSM" and what Republicans need to do about it - fast.
After McCarthy took his name out of the hopper, a plethora of other possibile names poured forth. About twenty days ago, however, interest coalesced quickly around House Ways and Means Committee chairman and former Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
A vote of GOP members was taken last Wednesday, October 26th, and on Thursday, October 27th, Ryan was formally sworn in as the House's 54th Speaker.
Our quick take: Speaker Boehner was probably prudent to leave his post at this historical juncture, with a distinguished career of accomplishments in the House behind him, while the immediate future for the GOP House caucus could remain somewhat turbulent, as members struggle to reconcile Party factions, while striving to force the Opposing Party to make mistakes and take the role, in gridiron parlance, of Defense, after being on an Offensive - pun intended - roll the past year or more.
If new Speaker Ryan is seen as the Great Conciliator going forward, by all means, we approve. Best wishes and good luck to him, as well as to retired Speaker Boehner.
In our next two series blogs, we will further explicate what we hope to accomplish with the Party of Yes, after demonstrating why we think such action is needed so urgently.
The past seven weeks of GOP turmoil may seem more like seven years, so much has happened. But we contend it's a healthy and productive turmoil, in stark contrast to the goose-stepping "solidarity" of the Other Side.
Right before the Reagan Library debate on September 16th, we decided - intentionally - to refrain from commentary on the Republican presidential race and related events, hoping to observe what "shook out."
And indeed, in the immortal words of Jerry Lee Lewis, "There's been a whole lotta shakin' goin' on."
It's been quite unusual shakin', however, with events unfolding in ways hardly anyone would have imagined a few short months ago.
Below, our take on some of these events and others to come.
But first, a word on the Party of Yes and how we hope to proceed.
In the next blog in this series, which we'll post tomorrow, we will restate just what it is we're working towards; how we hope to accomplish it; and why we urge the RNC and other GOP leading lights - including every Republican candidate, Caucus, and PAC - to support these efforts.
We maintain that the vast majority of the so-called Mainstream Media, particularly on the Internet, are firmly biased - in fact, prejudiced - supporters of the Other Major Party and its candidates.
We can't change Them. But we can change Us - how we present ourselves; how we work with other Republicans - all other Republicans; and how we unite our various factions, continue to expand our Base, and fashion and express strong and coherent messages about the issues which unify us and our overall values and principles as committed members of the GOP.
Much more about this in tomorrow's story and future stories.
Back to That "Shakin' Goin' On"
Here are some of the major GOP events of the past seven weeks and our personal "take" on these events, from our Party of Yes perspective: positive, optimistic, constructive, and supporting an inclusive "Big Tent" Republican Party.
***** Rick Perry Returns to His Ranch: Five days before the Reagan Library debate, on September 11th, Candidate Rick Perry, the popular, long-time former Governor of Texas, bowed out of the race, after failing to catch fire with big donors and running dangerously short of cash with which to campaign.
Our quick take: We very much like Governor Perry and are sorry he decided not to hang on. Largely the victim of the Mainstream Media and its (way too large) effect on donors, he was ridiculed by various Pundit-Bullies - and by fellow GOP Candidate Trump - for such shallow reasons as switching to black horn-rimmed glasses "to appear more intelligent."
(In reality, Perry's eyesight has probably deteriorated with age - as anyone over age 50 will tell you it's apt to do. Many people find that the alternative to glasses, contact lenses, cause too much glare when combined with the bright lights used for television or press conferences.)
Perry, among the oldest Baby Boomers - as are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina all age 60 or older - should be roundly applauded as the sole Candidate so far to acknowledge the importance of our "Gray" population over age 50, who will make up about 1/2 of all voters in 2016 and have lately skewed very strongly towards the Republican Party.
We believe Perry should have stressed his support for the Party's "Gray Base" even more vehemently. And while the Governor did highlight the State of Texas's superb educational improvement and job creation record during his tenure, he could have become the major champion of Resources and Manufacturing, Texas and other "Red State" mainstays, by stressing how these parts of the economy have suffered under President Obama's ill-thought-out anti-Resources, anti-Manufacturing, too-strong-USDollar policies.
In other words, Perry, the quintessential Texan, should have been more Texan.
***** Scott Walker Walks His Blazing Career Back Home to Wisconsin: Five days after the second debate at the Reagan Library, on September 21st, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, at one time considered the front-runner for the nomination, bowed out of the Presidential race. Like Perry, Walker cited lagging largesse from big donors as a key deterrent to making an effective bid.
Our quick take: Walker's abbreviated candidacy shocked pretty much everyone, including us, not least because he had been considered - the Mainstream Media told us he was! - the "personal pick" of the all-powerful Koch Brothers and their all-powerful circle of all-powerful people.
I guess they changed their mind.
From our perspective of looking for the best in each GOP candidate, we thought Governor Walker put in truly excellent performances at both GOP debates in which he participated. He has a lovely - even a "sweet" - personality, exuding the same kind of Midwestern wholesomeness that first brought Ronald Reagan to public awareness.
But from our "Big Tent" perspective of inclusiveness - which also recognizes the need to bring Independents and Democrat-crossover votes to the GOP - it's possible that Governor Walker's celebrity as an anti-union activist harmed his incipient campaign.
We gather from talking to those with far better knowledge of Midwestern politics than we have that there's a fair bit of pure misunderstanding surrounding this issue. Walker has been strongly anti-public sector unions, which he rightly sees as bloated and operating in an antiquated fashion. But he has, insist colleagues, a far more lenient view of private sector unions, especially those in the Manufacturing industries, important to any economic rebound in the Midwest and the nation. Walker needs to stress this and to beef up his standing among blue-collar voters in general in any future runs for national office.
It's also possible that the very fact of the Koch interests' early support for Walker - again, touted in story after story from the Mainstream press - proved to be a barrier to his candidacy, rather than a boost, in a cycle when many Republicans seem to be turning away from "kingmakers" and their perceived interference with the independence of the rank-and-file.
***** The Fall of John Boehner and the Rise of the Freedom Caucus - Followed by the Fall of Kevin McCarthy and the Rise of Him? Her? Him? Him? Him? Her? - And Yes!, There's Paul Ryan On a Beautiful White Steed
After months of wrangling over what seemed like dozens of issues both important and less-so - and their related legislation - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who had been in Congress for 25 years, House Republican leader for almost 10 years, and Speaker for 5 years, announced on September 23rd that he would not only be resigning his post as Speaker, but also retiring and giving up his House seat.
Blame or praise for Boehner's momentous resignation - or cries of "Who the heck are they?" - fell at the feet of a group of about 40 GOP House members, previously not widely-heralded, known as the Freedom Caucus, although Boehner had been clashing on various issues with far better-known and more influential groups within the House, too, including the Republican Study Committee, the Conservative caucus which has over 170 members, including many long-time House leaders.
Boehner's second-in-command, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, immediately stepped up to the plate and said he wanted to be Speaker - only to withdraw his name from contention a mere 9 days later, after putting his foot in his mouth - or so the Media widely said - over comments about the Benghazi subcommittee and its efforts to investigate Hillary Clinton's handling of the attack at the Libyan consulate and its aftermath.
McCarthy's withdrawal led to a feeding frenzy in that portion of the political Mainstream Media which leans towards Democrats - i.e. pretty much all of it. As previously stated, we intend to devote future blogs to discussions of the current irresponsibility of the "MSM" and what Republicans need to do about it - fast.
After McCarthy took his name out of the hopper, a plethora of other possibile names poured forth. About twenty days ago, however, interest coalesced quickly around House Ways and Means Committee chairman and former Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
A vote of GOP members was taken last Wednesday, October 26th, and on Thursday, October 27th, Ryan was formally sworn in as the House's 54th Speaker.
Our quick take: Speaker Boehner was probably prudent to leave his post at this historical juncture, with a distinguished career of accomplishments in the House behind him, while the immediate future for the GOP House caucus could remain somewhat turbulent, as members struggle to reconcile Party factions, while striving to force the Opposing Party to make mistakes and take the role, in gridiron parlance, of Defense, after being on an Offensive - pun intended - roll the past year or more.
If new Speaker Ryan is seen as the Great Conciliator going forward, by all means, we approve. Best wishes and good luck to him, as well as to retired Speaker Boehner.
In our next two series blogs, we will further explicate what we hope to accomplish with the Party of Yes, after demonstrating why we think such action is needed so urgently.
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