Why Democrats Lose

By Robert Parry

At dinner a few weeks ago , a well-placed Republican political operative was oozing confidence about GOP prospects in the November elections, not because the voters were enamored of George W. Bush but because the Democrats and liberals had done so little to improve their ability to reach the public with their message.
By contrast, he described to me a highly sophisticated Republican system for pouncing on Democratic “bad votes” and verbal gaffes and distributing the information instantaneously to a network of pro-Republican media outlets that now operates down to the state, district and local levels.

This huge conservative media advantage contributed to dooming Democratic hopes for snaring the vulnerable suburban San Diego seat of imprisoned Republican congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham. In the June 6 special election, Republicans reported a last-minute surge of support for GOP lobbyist Brian Bilbray after conservative media outlets trumpeted a verbal blunder by Democratic challenger Francine Busby. Near the end of a lackluster campaign in which Busby followed the advice of national Democratic consultants to avoid controversial positions, the candidate blurted out to a mostly Latino audience that “you don’t need papers for voting.” She quickly clarified her meaning, saying, “you don’t need to be a registered voter to help.”

But conservative radio and TV talk show hosts across southern California seized on Busby’s verbal slip and began accusing her of urging illegal immigrants to vote. Busby then spent the last several days of the campaign apologizing and backtracking.

National Democratic consultants will likely point to Busby’s failure as a candidate or the fact that the Republican Congressional Committee pumped more than $4.5 million into the district. Democratic consultants almost never mention the giant media advantage that Republicans have created from years of investing in media outlets—from newspapers, magazines and books to cable television, talk radio and the Internet.

Yet, it is this conservative messaging capability—in coordination with the Republican national political operation—that has proved decisive in election after election.

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