Can politics be won by stealth?

[wuushew]

Despite the brilliant debate performance of John Kerry against President Bush it seems that American electorate is not in any way swayed by factual evidence in making voting decisions. Given that why do Democrats even attempt to make public announcements go on political talk shows etc?

It seems to me this simply inflames the passion of conservatives who have a visual and auditory target to focus their anger. Republicans would continue to slander and defame Democratic politicians even given this voluntary boycott. However how angry can a person get at dozens of faceless names read off based on voting positions?

Republicans are motivated by the very public personas of Bill and Hillary Clinton among others. A typical conservative will never in conversation break down the technical merits and minutia of relevant legislation in debate. Why don't we simply withdraw into ourselves and silently run our own primaries, gather the union and activists votes and mount silent door to door canvasing of our base? Does winning require use of expensive media blitzes?