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From the American Prospect (www.prospect.org)
TALK RADIO HOSTS AND CALLERS GETTING THEIR TALKING POINTS STRAIGHT FROM GOP. This is on the light side, but it's fun and worth a quick note. If you've ever wondered why right-wing talk radio is so often devoid of any real dialogue, this might help explain why: It turns out that the hosts and the listeners who call in and speak are getting their talking points straight from the GOP.
Seriously. If you go to the Republican National Committee's Web site and click where it says "call talk radio," you'll find yourself on this page. It lists the phone numbers of many major talk show hosts, but that's not all: It also offers a list of "talking points" for callers to use when they call the shows. Among them: "Stand with President Bush on increased defense spending that better prepares and protects our military," and "stand with President Bush in his efforts to protect the homeland by controlling the borders." You can see a screen grab of the page below.
The RNC's site also offers these helpful tips for callers:
Plan What You Are Going to Say: Print or write out your talking points to help you plan what you are going to say before you are on the air... Be Clear and Concise: When you get on the air, sound upbeat and excited to be on the program.
What about the hosts? Well, they're getting their talking points from the same place the callers are -- the Republican National Committee. From the Washington Post:
The RNC is shipping reams of information to conservative radio hosts, television commentators and bloggers. Those GOP talking points detail the Democratic connections of groups including the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and American Family Voices, which are working to turn the scandal into an issue with national implications. And this is by no means an isolated case. So both hosts and callers are at least in some cases repeating lines fed to them by the RNC. Talk about an echo-chamber.
One reason this is interesting is that there isn't anything really comparable on the other side. Yes, Dem party officials, organizers and other liberal groups constantly urge supporters to write letters to newspapers, and even in some cases supply actual language. But the Democratic National Committee simply can't ship its talking points straight to editors of newspapers, secure in the knowledge that those talking points will faithfully and regularly be echoed in editorials and in letters to the editor.
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