FOX News/Limbaugh Are KILLING the GOP

[Vinnie From Indy]

Eric Boehlert has an interesting take on the current state of the GOP at media matters. He makes the case that the GOP has become unelectable BECAUSE of the takeover of the party by media personalities. While I agree with much of what he offers, I think it is important to also consider that the blurring of a political party and a powerful media apparatus STILL presents a very real danger to our republic. The rise of the right-wing media in America dates back to after the Nixon disaster. It really gained steam in the 1990's during the Clinton Admin. when a drug addict named Rush Limbaugh began to emerge as a marketable product. The point is that the current, robust right-wing media platform becomes infinitely more dangerous when and if they get a candidate that communicate with the same brilliance as an Obama or Clinton. It seems to me that they are simply working out the kinks and waiting for the right candidate.

Lastly, Hi Rush you big bag of shit! (You know Rush reads DU right?)

Boehlert writes:

"It's not easy to flip a congressional district that's been Republican since the late 1800s, but after being willingly hijacked by the right-wing media -- after getting steamrolled by Fox News' embrace of third-party candidate Doug Hoffman -- Republicans managed to hand Upstate New York's 23rd District to Democrats last week. And they did it just in time for the newly elected Democrat to help (barely) push health care reform through the House of Representatives during Saturday night's historic vote.

Doug Hoffman was, first and foremost, a media candidate (a media creation), which means we are entering a very new and different realm in American politics. We're entering a sort of Fox News Era where media outlets -- where alleged news organizations -- essentially co-sponsor political campaigns. We've moved well beyond the time when Fox News, for instance, leaned right and gave conservative candidates more air-time and tossed them lots of softball questions. We're now watching unfold a political reality where Fox News literally selects candidates and then markets them through Election Day.

There's a reason Hoffman described Glenn Beck as his "mentor" and pledged his "sacred honor" to uphold the "9 Principles and 12 Values" of Beck's 9/12 Project. There's a reason Sean Hannity wanted to "declare" Hoffman the election winner, and why Fox News' on-screen graphic read "Conservative Revolution?" when Hoffman was being interviewed (i.e. prematurely crowned) by Hannity on the eve of Election Day.

Hoffman's outsider bid, originally opposed by the Republican Party, was a media production, plain and simple, which means his loss was a media loss, as well.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich had it right when he told The Washington Times that Hoffman's rise as a third party candidate was the "result of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Fox News." Gingrich, who originally opposed Hoffman's candidacy, added: "This was not an isolated amateur; this is an entire movement."

More at:
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200911100021

[malaise]

1. Must read

K & R

[uponit7771]

2. Nah, they're doing JUST FINE...we should encourage them to keep up their stupid

[Bucky]

3. When a wife/girlfriend willingly stays in an abusive relationship, you can only do so much.

It's painful to watch the party of Dwight Eisenhower and Teddy Roosevelt fall under the grasp of functional lunatics. But they sorta did it to themselves. These wingnuts have been an anti-civil crowd since the Goldwater fanatics booed Nelson Rockefeller off stage in the 1960s. Historically, someone has to be a reckless hatemonger.

[rucky]

4. Media Matters? that Liberal rag - what do they know?

Don't listen to 'em, Rush! Just keep doing what you're doing.

[conscious evolution]

5. I am beginning to think it is deliberate

The PTB know the gop has ruined its brands reeputation for a long time to come because of their actions and policies.
Now,in order to continue down the path they have chosen,they are taking over the Democratic party.

Infiltrate and subvert is one of their tried and true methods of operation.Infiltrate and subvert then divide and conqueer.

[mitchum]

12. +1

you are correct

[ccinamon]

21. I agree and started voicing this opinion to family and friends

back in 2002/2003. We had a former GOP running the Texas Democratic Party...in the 4 to 6 years (somewhere around there) that she was party leader, Democrats won 0 state offices....she was FINALLY ousted after it was pointed out for a few years that her track record of 0 was nothing to brag about.

I believe the former true conservative Republicans have already taken over the Democratic party.

Voting 3rd party liberal/independent is what I'm planning on doing since the Democratic party is way more conservative than it used to be and I see signs that it will get more conservative not less.

[Mz Pip]

6. THANK YOU RUSH!!!!

If you are reading this, keep up the good work. Thanks to you the Republican Party will become even more dysfunctional and unelectable.

:hi:

Mz Pip

[formercia]

7. What will we do when the GOP is gone?

Eat our own?

[dgibby]

8. Judging from some of the ops on DU, I think we're already doing that.

The real problem with the Democratic Party is that it's being infiltrated and co-opted by the very same radical right religious fundies that destroyed the GOP. Just take a look at the DLC and Blue Dogs. They don't represent anything remotely resembling Democratic principles. They're corporatists through and through.

[Myrina]

9. Yep.

Then you'll see the Democrats move even further the right-center and us true lefties will also have to break off and start our own 'loony party': ultimately there will probably be 4 parties.

Would be nice if all 4 resulting parties were viable and DC allowed proportional representation, but having 4 minority parties under a system constructed for 2 parties, there will probably be indeterminate gridlock.

[UTUSN]

10. Can they do it, um, FASTER?!1 n/t

[Cheap_Trick]

11. To quote Captain Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country.....

"Let them die."

[librechik]

13. no they aren't they're the best thing that ever happened to the GOP!!!

(sssshhhh! the baby is sleeeeepiiiinnnggg!)

[Peacetrain]

14. oh yeah...

^5^ing quietly .....

[CatWoman]

15. Hi Vinnie

:hi:

[Vinnie From Indy]

16. Well hello there CW!

Thanks for the smiley wave. It made me smile!

[CatWoman]

18. have you been on Varvel's site lately?

[Vinnie From Indy]

19. I have taken a break from slapping Varvel around for a while

He was really not very happy with my posts on his blog. I will give him props for not simply deleting my posts.

Give each of your kitties an ear scratch for me!

Cheers!

[lpbk2713]

17. Sssshhh

Just sit back and enjoy the show. Watching them self-destruct can be such fun.

[Mopar151]

20. This old-timer pretty much blew up the Vt. GOP

In a similar situation:
From Wikipeida
In 1998 Tuttle was persuaded to run in the Republican US Senate primary. His opponent was Jack McMullen, a multi-millionaire who had lived in Massachusetts for most of his life. McMullen faced opposition from some Vermont Republicans who felt that he was a carpetbagger who apparently moved to Vermont for the sole purpose of establishing residency for a Senate run. The Vermont primary structure allows Democrats and Independents to vote in the Republican primary, and many people foresaw the possibility that Tuttle would beat McMullen by drawing votes across party lines. In addition, some may have hoped that a Tuttle campaign would help to publicize the film Man with a Plan.

The ensuing campaign was remarkable in many ways. Tuttle campaigned on a platform that seemed absurdist by the standards of contemporary politics. McMullen and the state Republican Party challenged Tuttle's ballot petition and got 95 of his signatures invalidated. Tuttle needed 23 more to stay on the ballot and he received 2,309 more signatures. McMullen then gave flowers to Tuttle in the hospital while Tuttle was there for knee surgery.

During the televised debate, Tuttle asked a series of humorous local knowledge questions rather than political questions. McMullen was unable to correctly pronounce the names of several Vermont towns, or correctly answer Fred's question "How many teats a Holstein got?," answering "Six", instead of the correct "Four". In the primary, Tuttle defeated McMullen by ten percentage points. Winning the primary with 55 percent of the vote, Tuttle promptly endorsed the incumbent Democrat, Patrick Leahy.

Tuttle's campaign against Senator Leahy was notable for the continuing publicity Tuttle received and for his endorsement of Leahy. Tuttle commented that he did not really want to win because he would have to move to Washington, D.C.. Despite his endorsement of his opponent, Tuttle garnered 48,051 votes (22 percent of the vote) in the actual election.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Tuttle