The message from Republican voters is getting louder and it’s basically a giant ‘I don’t give a shit.’ They don’t care about actually winning elections, although they are bound to win plenty of them. They want fresh faces. Apparently, they really hate the Republicans they have in office right now and they hate anyone who the Republican power structure cares to recommend to them. If you have a closed primary where only registered Republicans can vote, it doesn’t matter if it is Alaska or Delaware, Colorado or Pennsylvania, the GOP’s base is voting for the most rock-ribbed staunch conservative available.
I’m not even sure ‘conservative’ is the correct term. ‘Fringe’ ‘batty’ and ‘loony’ are all strong alternatives. Maybe it was the economic collapse in September 2008. Maybe it was the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running-mate at the beginning of that month. Maybe it was the epic failure on every level of the Bush-Cheney regime. Maybe it was seeing a black man from Hawaii elected president. But, whatever it was, or whatever combination of factors came together, at some point the Ron Paul-fringe of the Republican Party became ascendent and merged with the more extreme elements of the social conservative movement to give us a toxic brew.
Politically, things in this country are totally fucked up. A lot of Democrats are celebrating tonight because they think our losses will be slightly less than expected in November now that teabaggers have swept the evening. I’m here to tell you to curb your enthusiasm. We may be gaining some slight political advantage, but we’re losing one of the only two viable political parties in this country. This is serious business. I get criticized for going easy on the Obama administration. I don’t want to go easy on them. But look at the alternative. Someday soon, most progressives will wake up and realize that I was a bellweather. But I won’t be gloating. All I did was tell you what was coming and where our energy should be placed.
I don’t like to use well-worn and loaded terms like ‘fascist.’ People get the idea that I’m accusing the other side of wanting to commit genocide or something. But we need terms to describe just how radical the Republican Party has become. They’re so racist at this point that people on their own side are beginning to talk openly about it. They have no respect for the principle of freedom of religion. Newt Gingrich is suggesting that we have no more freedom of religion than Saudi Arabians enjoy. I don’t even want to document the crazy beliefs of recent Republican primary victors. It’s too depressing. But if you are a fan of desegregated lunch counters and masturbation, you should be concerned.
I’m not celebrating tonight’s election returns. For me, they just confirm what I’ve been saying forever. We are in trouble, and we still don’t have our eyes on the ball.
Uh, exactly.
I don’t see what choice we have, BooMan. It’s either the GOP gets its act together and starts moving center, or they move so far to the right that they collapse.
It’s horrible for the short term, but I see no alternative, and there’s not much we can do but try and elect Democrats.
Happened to the Whigs, and the country survived, in times at least as parlous as these.
A new party will form from the wreckage, if the old one cannot be saved. It’s how the original, non-crazy, Lincoln/Seward/Chase Republican party was born.
That’s one possible outcome. Another is that the country is paralyzed for the next two years by a gridlocked Congress, the economy tanks even further as a result, and the crazies get the levers of power – all of them – in 2012.
I’m with Booman. I’m really frightened by this. I also don’t like Germany comparisons, but I can’t help but imagine Weimar Republic officials celebrating when the crazies won German state elections, because they’d be easier to beat. The DC establishment, especially the Democrats, are paralyzed by the assumption that their opponents are legitimate, sane, and care about the country like they do. Wrong on all counts. They’re walking into a knife fight trying to hand out leaflets, and we’re way, way past appeals to reason.
Didn’t we have a civil war right after the Whigs imploded?
Yep…
One of the downsides of a batshit crazy Republican Party is that Blue Dogs and other halfass conservative Democrats now find it easier to look good in contrast.
Actually, no. And that is because the Blue Dogs have always been “Me too” to Republican trends. It is the Blue Dogs that we are most likely to lose. Which is why we have to focus intensely of pickups of Republican seats. We’ve been handed one tonight in the House from Delaware. Building turnout for John Carney to crush Glen Urquhart will build momentum for Chris Coons to beat Christine O’Donnell. Carney will be a Democratic pickup in the House. Which offsets a Blue Dog loss elsewhere.
Elaine Marshall eating Richard Burr in NC offsets Blanche Lincoln losing in Arkansas. Beating Chuck Grassley in Iowa offsets losing Byron Dorgan’s open seat in North Dakota.
The rise of the Tea Party movement confounds all of the polling models based on the past three elections. Which is why you should take Nate Silver’s predictions with a big grain of salt until the middle of October. And Nate is one of the best at polling analysis. There is a structural shift going on that makes the election up for grabs in a transformational way. Blue Dogs are going to lose. Tea Party types are going to lose. Progressive Democrats are not going to lose, but you need to act as if they are and make sure that their margins are huge.
Public opinion matters less than willingness to actually get out and vote what you’ve already decided. Media means less than getting out the vote. This election is not about persuasion; it is about action.
Uh, there’s no way Grassley is going to lose, and Marshall is almost surely going to lose.
This pisses me off. Why so defeatist when we’re so far out? Elaine Marshall stands a fantastic chance. I don’t know Grassley, as I haven’t been following this race. However, I still wouldn’t put it out.
Why feed the mantra of a “blood bath” instead of working to change the narrative, which is really the only way we can win?
because commenter wants to feed defeatism and lose; why that is, I don’t know
Are you really clueless? The seat that Burr occupies(that was once occupied by John Edwards of all people) has switched back and forth for a while now. In fact, the person holding that seat hasn’t won re-election in 40 or so years I believe. Have you seen poll numbers for Grassley? He’s very vulnerable.
And you know this how? personal line to the FSM?
The reason I am more pessimist is purely to do with Ned Lamont. A huge part of the blogosphere claimed the “energy” and “excitement” would overcome a huge poll lead. But they were absolutely wrong. I suppose if you include Rasmussen it’s very bad, if you remove Rasmussen it’s slow improvement (Conklin is still 10 behind Grassley with Grassley over 50%).
Voting for the craziness is an indicator of something, but what? So many ordinary Republicans voting for crazy people? why is that? maybe the economic collapse and total failure of bush-cheney after 8 years of bush cheney assuring their base “we create our own reality” set up this situation where ordinary people refuse to discern sane from crazy.
Voting for crazies is partly a symptom of the dim recognition by ordinary people that they are getting fucked over by their government–very little of the money they pay in taxes is actually going to purchase the collective goods that improve their lives. It is going out in tax cuts for the rich, military contracts for the rich, and subsidies for the rich. That is a very high price to pay for the paltry public services the ordinary citizen is now getting from their government.
They don’t see it that way of course. They think the money is going to people who are poorer than they are. That’s what the corporate media tell them. But in any event, the anger reflects the basic unfairness that we all see and that the Democrats have been ineffective in countering.
I have said for about three weeks now that the only issue in this election is who can turn out the most people who already agree with them.
While the Tea Party folks have had strong primaries, they are close to reaching their upside on getting out the vote. Democrats still have folks they can get to the polls. The test between now and November is who is going to be better at doing this.
We aren’t in trouble, and we do have our eyes on the ball. The national leadership of the Democratic Party is in trouble and doesn’t have it’s eyes on the ball. Why should Nancy Pelosi have to give a stemwinder of a speech to convince House Republicans to pass a middle class tax cut without a tax cut for the wealthy?
It is up to rank-and-file Democrats to once again pull the mule out of the ditch. And when we do it this time, we should put the leadership on notice that arrogantly ignoring the base (and by that I mean the entire base) and becoming me-too to a party that is going over the edge will not help either their prospects or the country.
This is a make or break election for progressive Democrats. Failure to defeat Republicans, repeat them decisively, and defeat the craziest among them is dangerous. You will not punish Democrats; you will punish the entire country. If ever there was a time for progressive Democrats to leave it all on the field, this is it.
We are in trouble, but we also have a great opportunity if we can take it strongly. The lockstep unity and craziness of the Republican strategy is their most serious weakness. The primary elections in Kentucky, Alaska, and Delaware have made the job just a little easier; thank our luck for once. But that is only if we act on this opportunity.
Here is a plug for Billy Kennedy who is going up against Virginia Foxx in NC-05. We will win against batshit crazy because we have a strong candidate.
I enjoy you amplifying my voice on the issue of organizing, but our four eyeballs do not constitute ‘us’ having our eyes on the ball.
You would be surprised at what is happening in organizing on the ground in NC. There are a bunch of folks other than us who have their eye on the ball.
very encouraging to hear that!
If we keep puling them out of the ditch why will they ever EVER EVER take notice of our notice?
Primary.
Start prepping for 2012 Congressonal/Senate primaries now.
Buwahahahahaha!
If we pull them out in the general they spend all their time amassing power to use against us in the primaries. Look at PA and AR. We help them in the general, they kick us in the genitals in the primary. The only reason PA worked was because everyone thought Arlen was scum for party-switching.
Yep. They will fight against us, just as the GOP Establishment will fight against its fringe (during the primary, anyway). That’s what fighting against The Machine is all about, MN. If you don’t have the chutzpah for it, then gtfo and go pout on your couch. The rest of us will keep fighting and give people like Lincoln the biggest fights of their lives when the times call for it.
You missed my point. You spend your time fighting for the machine. Then after the primaries, you spend your time rebuilding it so that the next to you fight it, you lose to it.
We are helping beat ourselves, there’s no way to go around that. Also I can’t have chutzpah because I’m not Jewish, just guts.
And your alternative is…what exactly? Sulking and cynicism?
you know, I hear you, BooMan.
but, this is who they are. to me, this is who they’ve always been. Never bought the pretty bow they put on themselves.
maybe it is a shock to you.
when folks have been dealing in dogwhistles since Nixon…tell me exactly what shocks you about this bunch.
they are who I always thought they were
Boo, the alternative party was lost when McCain kissed Faldwell’s ring and then nominated Palin as VP. What these past primaries show is that the stratigery of these folks is exactly on par with John “the fundamentals of our economy are strong” McCain and Sarah Palin.
My mom and dad BOTH went from perpetual Texas Republicans to Dem voters in that cycle. More crazy folks means more moderates like my parents are not going to give their vote to the GOP. The GOP has long since stopped being anything other than a vestige of what was once considered “conservative”, and is now just a party for crackpots like Angle and O’Donnell.
I’m just not seeing THIS moment as the loss of something fundamental to this country, in retrospect that happened sometime between 2001 and 2003. A sad realization for someone like myself who was so politically unaware during those periods.
Have you seen a good poll in the last six months? Where does your complacency find its justification?
I just gave my example of the narrative not fitting the results (more Dem primary voters than Republican ones), I was asking for anything that showed the opposite… I’m not complacent as I’m still donating and volunteering time, I’m just not seeing this “trend” on the ground that I hear about through Politico and other mainstream outlets.
I’m more than ready to be wrong here, and again I wanted actual turnout to prove this rather than “likely voter” screened polls. It won’t stop me from doing my work, I was just wondering what we are, in fact, up against.
It is a two-edged sword isn’t it.
On the one hand, you lament the total crazy-ness that the GOP is becoming and how it will be bad for governing, but you still kinda hope that you could watch them eat their young without you experiencing any consequences.
Like the diary posted over at DKOS with the video of Karl Rove trashing O’Donnell victory, and the priceless look on Klannity’s face as Rove is shitting on her.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/9/14/902003/-Popcorn!!-Karl-Rove-Trashes-O-Donnell-After-Win
I have to laugh at one thing. The Red State types are pissed at Rove over that, because he was trying to help Castle and didn’t disclose it. Talk about reaping the whirlwind.
shorter Rove: “aaaaaaagh! My Frankenstein monster’s escaped!!!!!”
(not sure if this is cool, but just left this on previous thread and seems more appropriate here…)
I hear ya on seeing so much crazy given so much airtime unchallenged. Are the teebagger candidates gonna hafta do debates now and actually answer real questions from real reporters in their general elections, which they haven’t really done so far? Either way it’s weird to see how idiotic a human brain can get.
Thing is…it was always there. They’re just being given the megaphone now. They aren’t winning new people over…they’re simply coming out of the deep recesses of society and sticking together…like slime molds. I expected this to happen after President BlackityBlackBlackKenyan was elected.
They are overwhelming old. They are incredibly incoherent. I mean going back to when John McInsane unleashed the Quitta from Wasilla upon the world, hasn’t every single teebagger candidate had to stop doing even short basic interviews because they are so pathetic in having to defend their ridiculous views? (“What do you like to read?” is a “gotcha” question?!?!) Literally every…single…one. This is not some big movement developing…it’s one last big flameout of a dying mentality and they’re lashing out with all they got…sorta like a cornered rat.
Short term: Sure, they might have some slight effect here and there, but I’m not sure any benefit they get even outweighs the negative from how fractured they’re making the Repub Party. Castle’s people and the national Repubs are already saying they’re sitting it out now or supporting the Dem, Coons, and establishment Repubs are publicly bitching about DeMint and how he’s stirring up trouble. Divide and conquer, baby!
Long term: They’re driving people away from the Repub Party, just as the Quitta did in the last Prez election. She hurt the Repub ticket…alot. Once they burn off all their oxygen, the flameout will be complete. Might last another cycle or two, but I think we’ll be better off once all this puss bubbles up and we can lance it off once and for all.
This is all a MASSIVE difference from 1994, where Repubs were quite unified with the joke “Contract On America.” And another HUGE difference is the development of the blogs and more importantly a resurgence in Community Organizing, especially with Organizing For America. This is almost exactly the opposite of what Clinton and the DLC-led DNC did after the 1992 win, where they literally began closing down Dem Party offices across the country save a few “swing states.” Because of these distinct differences and more, I’m still holding out hope for holding current numbers for Dems, or maybe even some pickup, and yes, I realize polls are not showing this so far, but it really doesn’t get going until tomorrow. It’s all going to depend on ground game, as usual, so lace ’em up y’all!
See my comment below.
AG
Yeah, we’re in trouble.
They don’t have to win to move the country in the wrong direction.
Do you really think Paladino has a chance against Cuomo? Has Cuomo campaigned at all yet? Paladino is the sacrificial lamb.
No, he has no chance against Cuomo, but what the hell does it say about the mood of the country that this dude crushed Lazio?
Didn’t Lazio try to out Tea Party Paladino with the Park51 community center issue?
Yes!!
That Lazio has never won a statewide election so why not give another guy a chance? Republican primary voters don’t trust the people put upon them by their leadership, to the effect that (as you mentioned elsewhere) anyone not seen as already playing a “Washington Game” are more likely to get their shot at a seat.
Country? I think you mean NY Republicans. The Republican Party in NY is a dying shell of its former shelf. When was the last time they held an office of any note in NY? Pataki, Rudy & D’Amato?
When did Republicans become “the country”? They’ve been the outlet for assholes for at least half a century now. These Christianist neo-fascists have been around forever. The difference now is that they think they’re ready to face the world without daddies who at least know how to appear capable of rational thought.
i just dropped by lazio’s wiki: turns out in April, the village voice did a very big story on his ties to the financial services industry: Wall Street.
The teabaggers are incoherent, but they claim to hate wall street as much as DC (“bailouts!!”) here it is:
and it goes on from there. So I can see why the teabaggers, who love outsiders and hate incumbents, would kick out Lazio.
People are upset about the economy, this is playing out.
See my comment below.
AG
What is so confounding about this?
Where’s the surprise?
Didn’t anybody notice what happened in Massachusetts w/Scott Brown?
Please.
That was 8 months ago, and things have only gotten worse since.
I knew Paladino had a good shot as soon as I heard his rap.
And don’t count him out against Cuomo, either.
Cuomo’s got the look of a career insider. That’s because he is a career insider, of course. Not a good place to be these days, if you haven’t noticed. He’s played down and dirty politics in Albany for a number of years. Many think that his office was really behind the Spitzer scandal…check off one potential rival. (And check off a Wall Street whistleblower as well. Betcha the real $$$$$$ guys were very…grateful. [$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$]) And the nasty Paterson stuff, too. There goes another rival.
Plus…he’s scowly, unpleasant looking sonofabitch.
His father never had that problem.
Of course…Mario didn’t come up filthy rich, either. He had street experience.
Come to think of it, so did Paladino.
Not exactly a PermaGov resume, is it?
Hmmmmm….
Paldino’s emails?
Lissen up, podnas.
Racism and porn addiction are plusses in the eyes of any number of right-wingish white males.
You haven’t noticed?
Please.
Like dat.
Hmmmmm…
I think Cuomo is a prime candidate for a game-changing upset, myself.
Watch the polls.
AG
I never thought I’d say this, but I agree with
Mark Halperin’s Take
And I think you will too Booman
Even this?
naw, not that exact statment, but I agree with the gist, that the GOP Establishment had any number of chances to at least try to get some type of control the Tea party phenom. They went all in with their obstrution strategy for the short term gain, but didn’t realize or more than likely didn’t care, that they were boxing themselves in a corner in the long-term.
How on one hand do you say that Obama is evil, working with Dem are evil, and working with Obama was bad for the country, and not expect that teabaggers might take that to mean, that any gop who even remotely seems to be working with admin are also bad for the country and will vote accordingly.
the tiger is out of the bag at this point, and there is no putting him back in for GOP
the republicans finally caught the beast. now they can go down with it:
See my comment below.
AG
Yes, the far right is in ascendancy at the moment.
But watch…
As I have said so many times here…
The corporate-controlled media controls the minds of the majority of American voters.
As was quite clear in 2010, when given the choice between an intellectual Dem with no real DC/establishment power base but with a true gift for rhetoric, another Dem who’s no dummy either but is powerful enough to actually control her own destiny to some degree once elected and a 70+ year-old RatPub cancer patient who chose a totally loose cannon as Vice Pres, they made the safe choice.
Make no mistake about it…the mass media elected Obama. On orders from above.
Now 2012 looms.
Choices?
1-A lame duck prez whose policies have been totally discredited by the rise of the Tea Party. Discredited in terms of electoral success at the very least.
2-The aforementioned Dem candidate who, although possibly a loose cannon herself regarding the right wing has improved/rehabilitated her national image through several years of headlining public service as Secretary of State.
3-A nutcase group of right wing candidates headlined by a woman who is all front and no content whatsoever.
and
4-A group of lackluster middle of the road RatPubs whose collective asses have been totally kicked by the loose cannon Tea Partiers.
Please.
Guess which one they are going to select to be elected.
Please.
Hillary Clinton in 2012.
Watch.
That’s the way it really works.
You haven’t noticed?
Watch.
AG
In 2012, Hillary Clinton will be 65. Ronald Reagan was 70 when he took office. Even so, 65 is pushing the outer limits of presidential age–especially if you are expecting a two-term president.
If it is not Obama, there will be somebody new. An Eric Cantor who has positioned himself toward the center. A person who is not in politics at the moment. Not likely a Democrat primarying Obama. More likely a resurgent pro-business “moderate” Republican, even if retreaded to be “moderate”. John Thune, for example, or Mike Johanns or John Hoeven.
Hillary is working hard to try to make history as Secretary of State. Her time has passed.
Betcha.
They will need a guaranteed winner against a far right that threatens to literally tank this country.
Bad for business, don’tcha know.
No time to build a new dark horse.
Only Bloomberg stands a chance of getting mainstream corporate media support. And as a Jew…I don’t think so. He’d lose too much of the solidly antisemitic swing vote.
Watch.
AG
5 David Petraeus.
He’s already “lost Afghanistan”. And been effectively demoted to actually having to fight a war.
Not likely as a Republican dark horse. The glitter is gone.
Hillary isn’t gonna primary Obama in ’12. In fact, Obama isn’t going to face any primary threat at all. $500 to Bernie Sanders re-election campaign says Hillary isn’t primarying Obama in ’12(which means the payoff is 15 months or so away).
Possible.
But then again…she may not have to. There have been increasingly more media tremblors showing up recently regarding Obama’s simply not running again in 2012.
Y’know…he has bosses too. The PermaGov corporate establishment that backed him in 2009/2010 can give him his marching papers if they so desire.
The Presidency is not as powerful as many believe it to be.
Bet on it.
That old mob line? “Money talks, nobody walks?”
Well, money talks and presidents walk, too.
Bet on that as well.
AG
That’s 2007/2008, of course.
Dysnumeria is a terrible affliction.
AG
It’s not like Governors. Presidents just don’t walk away after one term. Not going to happen.
Errrrrrr…
They do when they are told to do so.
And/or when they know damned well that they can’t win as well.
Could happen.
In Obama’s own words less than 8 months ago:
Yup.
AG
hope you get the bet for the $500 to Bernie Sanders’ campaign. Who’s going to pay for primarying Obama? unless it’s the Koch brothers. (I guess we shouldn’t rule that out)
Whose crying more tonight, Mike Castle or Beau (and Joe) Biden?
Mike Castle. The others still have careers.
The Bidens must be thrilled tonight. Their guy Coons is much more likely to beat Posie O’Donnell than Castle, so as long as they work hard for it, the Dems will hold this seat in the Senate.
Considering the ages of Carper and Coons, Beau Biden’s only likely chance for higher political office is Governor. Is that what he wants? Did he want to follow his father eventually?
The best possible thing to do is to use this turn of events as the gift that it is. Run on fear about the crazies taking power (because it is a truly frightening possibility) and run on indignity and anger towards the wealthy elite who have rigged the game in their favor. I fully agree that this is a dangerous and troubling moment, but we have a lot to work with if enough of us are on the same page. And if its Blue Dogs who fall in the midterm backlash, so much the better.
I look back to 2004 for some parallels. I was all in for Dean, and my heart sank in an instant when his overenthusiastic exhortation to keep fighting after a primary loss was turned into a viral video for the ages. The movement and his rise seemed to come out of nowhere, much of it anti-war anger but also in part it was a rebuke to the drab vanilla of the Democratic party and its roster of stiffs running for the highest office. The nascent movement lost a good deal of its short term momentum after Dean’s demise, but it showed that there was power in passion and it provided the social networking model for Obama in the next cycle. It is also, however, a model for the Tea Party primary assault. Between the models developed over the last 20 years by evangelicals and Dean’s internet phenomenon, it has become possible to outmaneuver the party machines in primary races.
The cautionary part of this tale lies in the fact that Democrats couldn’t easily beat George Bush in 2004, already widely perceived as a fraud. Huge blocks of voters in this country can be too easily manipulated, and it has more to do with pocketbook issues than anything else. If you add into today’s mix a teetering economy, almost anything is possible–even O’Donnell, Paul, Miller, and Rand.
I shot video for a film I’m making at a Tax Day Tea Party event in Greensboro, NC and at the Glen Beck rally in DC on MLK speech day. These people are white, middle class and gleefully inconsistent and incoherent. They are glibly racist. Political organizing for them, like the evangelicals of the ’90’s and early 2000’s, is a family-oriented social activity, often structured through other Church activities. They are strivers who may not be in the 250K bracket, but they think they belong there and are being held back by taxes and overregulation. O’Donnell may not have actually earned ANY money over the past five years, but in her mind she is right at the threshold of the 250K margin. The Tea Partiers and the people who pull their strings have been lurching from phony issue to phony issue, as Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes have both been pointing out on MSNBC. When they are organized, they are a potent minority.
Precisely.
Fighting Bill for Chairman of the Democratic Party.
Now!!!
Ah yes.
Another accurate observer.
Good to meet you.
Can’t wait to see the film.
OH yes!!!
I know ’em.
But don’t forget the other demographics.
White and working class.
White and poor as well.
They’ll be the shock troops if push comes to shove.
Yup.
“May you be born into interesting times” goes the Chinese curse.
Here we go…
AG
It is too late. Maybe if the Brooks Bros people hadn’t stormed the doors and the Florida recount had gone on with a Gore victory, things might be different.
Maybe.
But I doubt it. The take-over of our political system by the large corporations is well past the tipping point.
Did it start 50 years ago as that great wasteland, network television, became uber-popular or with the “Reagan Revolution” I do not know. But we, as a nation, have been going downhill for a long time.
Obama has been too timid and the folks he hired (Geithner, Summers, Holder et al) are owned by the corporate power structure.
It is too late to change whatever needs changing (SCOTUS – Citizens United), so I just hope they don’t mess up my Social Security as long as I’m alive.
It’s my understanding that Holder wanted to go all the way as far as prosecution goes…but political operatives shut him down.
Excellent thread, but lacking in any discussion of the major political driver. Steve Benen “elsewhere in the same Pew Research report, we see that Republicans not only rely heavily on Fox News, but it’s literally the only news outlet available that the GOP rank-and-file consider credible. a strong majority of republicans polled saying they only get news from Fox.”
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_09/025633.php
That means a majority of republicans will not be able to think outside the false frames provided by the political propaganda machine known as Fox “News.” How does our country survive with one party literally speaking a language only they can understand, living in a world of unshakable belief in facts that are not true? What forces will arise to reduce the influence of Fox (and affiliates) over the 35% of the population that will always identify as republican? Certainly not money. They are making money hand over fist. Ethics? Hah! Patriotism? Hah! These are nationalists, not patriots. The rest of the media waking up and calling Fox out for what they are? Not likely, they had their chance and chose to call Fox a sister news organization.
I truly believe we are in uncharted territory with a well funded propaganda machine gaining the unquestioning loyalty of a large percentage of our population. We all know what happened the last time this occurred in the western world.
I believe it is actually talk radio that is a much bigger factor than FOX News.
Booman, I think it is a synergistic relationship. I sent a note to Rachel Maddow this morning suggesting she do an investigative series on this subject, maybe with Jay Rosen as a guest. One aspect is purely the numbers. Teevee ratings indicate Fox has 12-14 million unique viewers per month. That is nowhere near the ~100 million people in the republican party. So, are they actually watching it? Are they watching it together down at the VFW? How does Fox have such an outsized influence with such a small viewership?
The epidemiology of this is fascinating, considering that none of the individual vectors has a surpassingly large audience:
“Figuring out the size of Limbaugh’s flock “is an art, not a science,” says Michael Harrison, the editor of Talkers magazine, ….
Harrison’s own calculation — that Limbaugh typically attracts about 14.25 million listeners weekly — is based on Arbitron figures from about 30 cities and spot checks of a similar number of stations. Harrison stands by his guess even though Limbaugh’s program is heard on more than 600 stations across the country. “Once you get below the big markets, [the audience] doesn’t add up to critical mass,” he said.
…
No matter the exact figure, Harrison says Limbaugh’s weekly audience eclipses all other nationally syndicated personalities, including conservatives Sean Hannity (13.25 million), Michael Savage (8.25 million) and Laura Ingraham (5.5 million), according to the magazine’s “rough projections.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/06/AR2009030603435.html
Another thing, BooMan, is that I don’t see how O’Donnell is any more crazy than the rest of the right-wing these days.
See dday:
They are who we have always thought they were.