Can we get Democrats on Teevee to speak about the stimulus package.

[Mass]

These last few days have been a feast by the media trying to paint the fact that the bill was passed with NO Republican votes as a failure of Obama (or Pelosi, as the alternative version of Matt Lauer this morning in an interview with Robert Gibbs, who did a good job, BTW). You may be asking yourself: where are the Democrats? wondering if you suffer from hallucination. After all, the Democrats are the party in power. They have the White House, the House, and the Senate, and they are blamed for not accessing to enough of the GOP demands. Where are they defending their views of the bill and denouncing the income tax cuts only philosophy of the GOP.

Now, if you think you did not see them or rarely, you are not suffering from hallucinations. Here is the chart shown by many blogs today of cable
appearances by GOPers and Democrats.


And here is one view, among others from Steve Benen, in washington monthly.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016652.php

NO LIBERALS ON THE TEEVEE....

If you watched the debate over the economic stimulus plan unfold on the cable networks this week, you may have noticed a certain imbalance. Digby asked the other day, "Can someone explain to me why I'm seeing Republican after Republican on television advising Americans on the right way to run the economy?" It was not an uncommon question.

As it turns out, this was not just a figment of progressives' imagination. ThinkProgress researched the issue and found that "the five cable news networks -- CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business and CNBC -- have hosted more Republican lawmakers to discuss the plan than Democrats by a 2 to 1 ratio this week." From 6 AM on Monday to 4 PM on Wednesday, the "networks have hosted Republican lawmakers 51 times and Democratic lawmakers only 24 times." The chart helps drive the point home.

Let's also not lose sight of the context. House Republicans dominated the networks' airtime, despite the fact that they were making absurd demands, despite the fact that they had no intention of voting for the legislation, and despite the fact that their small caucus lacked the votes to defeat the bill anyway.

Josh Marshall noted on Monday the "continuing Republican tilt of much of the capital press corps. Not in ideological terms perhaps, but in terms of whose opinions carry weight, whose matter and whose do not." The ThinkProgress piece highlights this dynamic quite clearly.

I'd just add that even when the interviews were over, and Republican officials weren't on screen, the on-air media kept talking about the stimulus debate from a decidedly Republican perspective.

When Republicans were in the majority, and controlled the White House, Senate, and House, it was important to air the GOP perspective. Now that Democrats are in control, it's still apparently paramount to let Americans know what Republicans are thinking.

Now, it's possible Republicans have been more aggressive in reaching out to network producers and bookers. Maybe Democrats haven't been as efficient in making themselves available for interviews. I'm not privy to the Dems' media strategy, and for all I know, it needs some "tweaking."

That said, I know there are plenty of camera-hungry Democrats in Congress, who'd just love to talk about a popular spending bill proposed by a popular president on national television. The kind of inequity ThinkProgress found is a symptom of a larger problem.

He is definitively right when it comes to the imbalance, but I am somewhat concerned that the Dems think the media will tell the truth. From what I saw this morning on broadcast (Ann Coulter on CBS, and Matt Lauer on NBC), they need to put their POV out to the public.

[bdamomma]

1. the republican propaganda machine is in full tilt.

damn media, I just fired off an e-mail to Rachel Maddow to possibly mention the onslaught of Repigs on TV since the inauguration.

[Life Long Dem]

2. America needs help desperately and the RW is all of a sudden playing conservative.

It was spending like a drunken sailor in what was said a good economy and now they want to play games?

[ensho]

3. Wash. Journal had Sanders (sp.) on this a.m. who did a great job

Ron Paul was on after him and sounded like a nitwit.

[Thrill]

4. The Republicans are always better at pushing their agenda in the media