kerry's doing EVERYTHING the complainers ask for. it's the MEDIA, stupid!

[unblock]

kerry IS telling the truth about bush.
kerry IS taking the gloves off.
kerry IS talking about the economy.
kerry IS standing up to the smears.

the problem is NOT kerry.

the problem is the MEDIA, especially the cable shows. not only are these outlets owned by republicans (e.g., murdoch) and run by republican operatives (e.g., ailes), but they've figured out that when you put controversial republican slants on the air, people watch.

that's right, people watch. republicans watch because they eat that crap up, and DEMOCRATS WATCH TOO, because we think we need to monitor the other guys more than our own blood pressure.

it's the same effect as howard stern noted years ago. people who like him tune in to hear what he'll say next, and people who hate him ALSO tune in to hear what he'll say next.

we must work hard for kerry between now and november. but now, and long term, we must work hard to fight the media.

BOYCOTT advertisers of fox news.
help support air america and other left or non-biased outlets.
DON'T repeat and report the right-wing smear of the day.

and most of all, DO NOT ATTACK OUR CANDIDATE.

</rant off>

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. You are assuming that the complainers want Kerry to win.

I'm not.

[yardwork]

3. Well, there are disruptors here and everywhere, but

there are also very sincere people who are expressing their concerns.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

5. Some are sincere, some are not.

That's why I don't assume all are sincere.

[MikeG]

4. You only want him to win if he's nice.

Sorry. The world is ugly.

Ugly wins.

Ask President Dukakis.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

8. 'a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?'

In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism here—the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0727.html

[MikeG]

9. Sorry. That's for the naive. I just want the killing to stop.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

13. Consciously choosing cynicism over hope -- OK.

Good luck with that.

[JI7]

10. Dukakis was ahead by a large amount

it wasn't really about playing nice, but the fact he was ahead by such a large amount meant there was less need to change tactics.

he lost because of that one debate where he was asked about the death penalty .

[Ducks In A Row]

16. same here.

we already know the media is bullshit. The freepers especially know the media is kissing bush*'s ass

[yardwork]

2. I agree!

I've been reading Molly Ivin's new collection "Who Let the Dogs In." The essays begin in the time of Reagan/Bush and continue to the present. As soon as that little piglet Pappy Bush got interested in the White House, the control and manipulation of the news media began. It has grown and grown and grown.

The news media is bought and paid for by corporations. We need to address this fact. We need to fight it.

[Jon8503]

6. Agree, It Is The Media And If We Were To Win This Election &

Congress, I really feel it is important to take away the media monopolies as they are more dangerous than any other monopoly that has been broken up. We can see that now, imagine if it should get worse. I really think we are going to be on the winning side most of the time if you have a completely fair and balanced media that only reports, not makes the news

[Paradise]

7. We are doomed without a free press and we don't have one!

Sensible advice, unblock!

[PDittie]

11. We can do our part to help Kerry win if

we do what unblock suggests.

If we watch CNN and start threads about how much they suck, that's not exactly helping, now is it?

We start to take back the media (and our country) if we refuse to be manipulated by it.

If the Election Day results prove the pundits, polls, and corporate media wrong, then they are done. Finished.

There is a significant portion of the new, unpolled electorate -- college-age students, Latinos -- whose votes we must gather.

These potential voters aren't reflected in ANY polls (among the many reasons is because they by and large have no land telephone lines into their homes).

It would be much better to register voters and block walk than fret about the daily poll numbers.

I for one don't want to wake up on November 3rd and wish I had done more.

[sandnsea]

12. And if he gets angrier....

They'll just start calling him wild-eyed and create a whole new negative spin against him. There's nothing we can do about the media except defeat them on the streets. We all have at least one local outlet. Maybe we can organize truth squads in every city in America?? Hand out flyers of things the media is lying about. Bitching about the campaign isn't going to change how the media lies.

[Fleshdancer]

14. The answer is the INTERNET.

When Kerry attacks, we need short, to the point videos of it circulating all over the net. Internet news has the strenghth to influence the rest of the media. Remember how Trent Lott was brought down? Remember how Howard Dean turned into a viable candidate?

If not videos, then what about emails full of Kerry quotes? The republicans use email to make false claims against Kerry, why can't we use it to expose Bush's record and to put Kerry's message out there? The trick is listing short phrases.

The only way to fight the media is to do their job for them. They don't want to show Kerry? Fine. We'll expose people to the message without their help. Soon enough they'll jump on the bandwagon. They're followers, not leaders.

[Protagoras]

15. I wish it were that simple

But the internet hasn't saved us yet...it's just added to the din, detracting from the ability of anyone to really focus a louder message. It has potential...but I fear that our ability, as a country, to organize and protest was just as strong, if not stronger when people relied on leaflets and phone calls. Think of the 60's and 70's...at least inside the US, I'm hard pressed to see how we're doing it better atm. Remember when you rely even on the Internet at this point the largest and most read sites are owned by the same people who control your TV/Radio/Newspapers.

Check out this Ted Turner piece...I don't know that there are answers it in, but he pretty clearly spells out the problem.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html

[Cogito ergo doleo]

17. Also, make a case to the Kerry pundits

that the strength Kerry can arm himself with is the truth about how *'s policies are fubar. For every opinion * pundits raise, factual records and studies from the last four years of the * pResidency exist in black and white to prove otherwise, rationally.