MUST-read : The GOP MUST recognize the media is an enemy
"Romney had won the Republican primaries, but had failed to absorb the lesson of his most tenacious opponent. Newt Gingrich did not treat the media as a neutral moderator, but as a debate opponent, challenging its premises and agendas. And so Romney was left unprepared for Crowley’s attack.
On the road to 2016, the latest crop of candidates appears to have learned nothing from Romney’s failure. "
"Media attacks on Republicans come in three stages. The first stage reports on an individual Republican’s action or statement. The second stage projects that on Republicans in general as part of a 'Culture of X.' The third stage asks whether Republicans will ever be able to break free of the 'Culture of X' with 'X' being anything from racism to hatred of science."
"The only way to break the cycle is for Republicans to stop explaining themselves and to challenge the narrative. The narrative is a lie, but no one will ever know that if the candidates don’t challenge it.
Sensible clarifications might have worked in 1955. They might have even worked in 1985. But they’re completely useless today."
"The road to the White House is over the crushed and mangled narratives of the media. A Republican candidate who fails to take on the media will fall wrapped head to toe in lies and scandals. He will go on issuing clarifications and sensible statements while the media accuses him of murdering small children.
The media is not impartial. It is not even a forum. The national media is the political opponent of every Republican running for the White House.
It needs to be treated that way."
"When CNN’s John King tried to drag Newt Gingrich through the dirt in a primary debate, Gingrich dragged the media through the dirt instead, describing it as 'destructive', 'vicious' and 'negative'. He turned the tables by putting the media and its motives up on the stage. He refused to treat John King as a journalist who had the right to hold him accountable. Instead he fought to hold King accountable.
And that’s something that any Republican candidate can do.
The public doesn’t like the media. Poll after poll shows that they don’t trust the media. They listen to what the media tells them because Republicans meekly play out their parts in the media’s smear campaigns [...]
When the media attacks, the issue should never be the credibility of a Republican candidate. The issue must always be the credibility of the media. It must be the credibility of the politicians being protected by the press."
Beat the Media, Win the White House
On the road to 2016, the latest crop of candidates appears to have learned nothing from Romney’s failure. "
"Media attacks on Republicans come in three stages. The first stage reports on an individual Republican’s action or statement. The second stage projects that on Republicans in general as part of a 'Culture of X.' The third stage asks whether Republicans will ever be able to break free of the 'Culture of X' with 'X' being anything from racism to hatred of science."
"The only way to break the cycle is for Republicans to stop explaining themselves and to challenge the narrative. The narrative is a lie, but no one will ever know that if the candidates don’t challenge it.
Sensible clarifications might have worked in 1955. They might have even worked in 1985. But they’re completely useless today."
"The road to the White House is over the crushed and mangled narratives of the media. A Republican candidate who fails to take on the media will fall wrapped head to toe in lies and scandals. He will go on issuing clarifications and sensible statements while the media accuses him of murdering small children.
The media is not impartial. It is not even a forum. The national media is the political opponent of every Republican running for the White House.
It needs to be treated that way."
"When CNN’s John King tried to drag Newt Gingrich through the dirt in a primary debate, Gingrich dragged the media through the dirt instead, describing it as 'destructive', 'vicious' and 'negative'. He turned the tables by putting the media and its motives up on the stage. He refused to treat John King as a journalist who had the right to hold him accountable. Instead he fought to hold King accountable.
And that’s something that any Republican candidate can do.
The public doesn’t like the media. Poll after poll shows that they don’t trust the media. They listen to what the media tells them because Republicans meekly play out their parts in the media’s smear campaigns [...]
When the media attacks, the issue should never be the credibility of a Republican candidate. The issue must always be the credibility of the media. It must be the credibility of the politicians being protected by the press."
Beat the Media, Win the White House