As usual, Peter Daou is a must read, this time on how "The Health Reform Fiasco Is an 'Old' Media Triumph -- and a Red Flag for Democrats." Here's an excerpt:Setting aside strategic errors by the Democrats (and there have been several in this fight), just look at how reform opponents have outgunned the White House using town halls, cable news, newspaper editorials, Freepers, Drudge, talk radio and chain emails. If I close my eyes, I'm transported back to my days on the Kerry campaign and the summer of Swift Boats, Purple Heart Band-Aids and rightwing attack machine antics. It's as though a half decade of technological advances disappeared in the blink of an eye. Forget Facebook and Twitter, it's all about Fox and MSNBC and CNN replaying images of angry protesters at town hall meetings railing against 'government takeovers.' It's about Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh spreading fear and fury. It's about anonymous emails zipping across the country, distorting the facts and sowing confusion. It's about rightwing pundits setting the terms of the debate by foisting radical ideas on the public.Sadly, I have a hard time arguing with what Daou has to say here. I'd just add that, without closing the "Daou triangle" (netroots, traditional media, political establishment), the netroots on its own is not worth much, maybe able to win a skirmish or two but not a war.
Paradoxically, the attempts by Democrats to counter all this by sending emails to Obama's list and creating campaign-style fact-checking websites seem almost quaint by comparison...
So to my fellow digerati: it's time to admit that the communications landscape, at least in politics, isn't necessarily tilted in favor of new media. The health reform showdown is powerful evidence that the much-touted online advantage of the left, if not a chimera, is certainly questionable when it comes to major political confrontations.
Perhaps the netroots is most effective in political campaigns, because the campaign apparatus integrates it all together. It's particularly effective in "movement" candidacies - Webb, Obama - where the grassroots is generally excited for "their guy." It's even more effective when there's a clear "villain," such as in the case of George "Macacawitz" Allen in '06 or Sarah Palin in '08. Absent those elements - closing the "triangle," a strong "hero" and "villain," a "movement" born out of strong messenger and/or messaging, perhaps the power of the netroots really is a chimera. Certainly, when it comes to complex policy issues like health care reform or climate change, especially when the party's not clearly unified behind progressive ideas like a public option or cap-and-trade, good luck.
OK, now I'm depressed. Damn you Peter Daou for telling the truth! Ha.
