Democratic Leadership Fails to Frame the Debate: Story Becomes Dem Tactics Rather than Real Issues!

[DFLer4edu]

Reading over the following article I was struck by the utter inability of the Democratic Leadership to frame the debate and the presses' never ceasing love for process stories.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/01/AR2007010100784.html

Democrats To Start Without GOP Input
By Lyndsey Layton and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 2, 2007; Page A01

As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking.

House Democrats intend to pass a raft of popular measures as part of their well-publicized plan for the first 100 hours. They include tightening ethics rules for lawmakers, raising the minimum wage, allowing more research on stem cells and cutting interest rates on student loans.

But instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.

Nancy Pelosi, the Californian who will become House speaker, and Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who will become majority leader, finalized the strategy over the holiday recess in a flurry of conference calls and meetings with other party leaders. A few Democrats, worried that the party would be criticized for reneging on an important pledge, argued unsuccessfully that they should grant the Republicans greater latitude when the Congress convenes on Thursday.

This is a process story which takes away from the issues. The real story should be that "tightening ethics rules for lawmakers, raising the minimum wage, allowing more research on stem cells and cutting interest rates on student loans" are only controversial issues to the leadership of the Republican Party. Everywhere else they just make common sense. Notice how the story fails to mention the substance of the Republican objections to "tightening ethics rules for lawmakers, raising the minimum wage, allowing more research on stem cells and cutting interest rates on student loans." If this were the focus, it would be clear that the Republican party is corrupt, balances the federal checkbook on the backs of poor people, opposes scientific advance that will save millions of lives in an effort to pander to a small segment of ultraconservative Christians who have lost the true meaning of Jesus Christ's teachings, and fails to realize that to make the American Dream a reality for all who work for it, we have to make access to world class education the birthright of all Americans.

Internal discussions of legislative tactics should not have been announced. Let’s be clear, the bills Republicans are talking about proposing are meant to derail the Democratic agenda. Suppressing these bills for the first 100 hours has been equated with FDR ignoring the Hoover Republicans for the first 100 days. This is a fair comparison, but to announce legislative tactics was a big mistake as legislative tactics are inherently partisan and are easily framed as such. Instead of talking about general bipartisanship and then announcing that Republicans will not be allowed to put forth their own bills, the Democratic leadership should have made a prominent announcement inviting the Republicans to join us in the spirit of common sense bipartisanship and help us in "tightening ethics rules for lawmakers, raising the minimum wage, allowing more research on stem cells and cutting interest rates on student loans," measures that the Republican Party surely no longer opposes in this day and age?

They should have invited the Republicans to join us in ensuring that congressional ethics adhere to our moral values. They should have invited the Republicans in ensuring that hard working Americans earn a living wage with which they can afford to feed their families and buy the medicines they need to stay healthy. They should have invited the Republicans to help us to cure diseases which take the lives of millions of Americans every year. They should have invited the Republicans to fully support education, in recognition that a world class education will enable students to achieve their American Dream. Then if the Republican Party decides that these are not things to which they aspire and that they do not support such legislation, we would have done everything in our power be bipartisan. Our legislative tactics would merely be an effort to keep the train on the tracks and it would be the Republicans who would be seen as partisan hacks who lack common sense, degrade our moral values, are out of touch with working class America, are a roadblock to the American Dream, and are willing to see Americans die for a few political points with Pat Robertson. (And we haven't even gotten to Iraq!)

This should be the story! Now if only the leadership of our party could get their act together and frame the debate this way instead of announcing legislative tactics! It is easy to blame the press, but we screwed up on this one. The message we should have been hammering after the election is we invite Republicans to work toward these goals. Instead of making blanket statements that we wouldn't shut out Republicans the way we were shut out, we should have been out there asking for Republican support on these issues. Because let's face it. These are not measures that any politician can easily oppose. The Republicans have been able to do so by keeping these issues out of the news. If we get the media to shine light on these issues, they will be forced to support our measures or lose more seats. The Democratic leadership should take a page out of media matters' book. They came up with excellent talking points on the issues we will be addressing in the first 100 hours and the first 100 days. We need to debunk the Republican misinformation campaign on these issues and keep the story focused on our issues. Please read these talking points.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200701020003

[rock]

1. Excellent analysis n/t

[hashibabba]

2. Well said!

:applause:

[Bitwit1234]

3. The problem IS THIS

the republicans and their corporate buddies still own, every thing in the MSM. They will continue to scue the news to favor the republicans. No matter what good the democrats do, these news medias will make sure that the only thing the public hears is the what the democrats are doing to the poor republicans.

No where, no how did any of the crooked, corrupt, lying, underhanded actions of the republicans during at least the last six years. We will have to come to live with it. Because they won't change.

[DFLer4edu]

6. Dismissing it as the "evil MSM" does not take care of the problem

If you want my take on the current state of what you refer to as mainstream media and what I refer to as the corporate media, head on over to media matters or watch the documentary Outfoxed which clearly demonstrates that Fox is absolute Republican propaganda. However, we Democrats make it easy for them. Democrats need to reframe the debate. If we don't like the question they're asking we need to reject the premise of the question and challenge the bias. To see this done in all its glory, take a look at Clinton destroy Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/24/fox-clinton-interview-part-1-osama-bin-laden/ Media reform is an important part of taking the ultraconservative agenda off the table and out of serious public discourse, but until we get there Democrats need to be fighting back on camera. Part of this is framing the debate.

[annabanana]

4. Really good article. The authors of the offending

WaPo piece can be emailed. (I asked for a little more beef with the bun next time).

[Trajan]

5. I think both stories miss the mark ....

And while one may get the impression that the GOP is sidelined .... There WILL be those who are drawn in by those issues that have already formed the foundation of those specific congressperson's legislative focus ....

Again; another story of how the poor Democrats have already lost congress .....

Aw shit .... better start drinkin again ....