It's Not the Media, Stupid

Two weeks from now there is a reasonable chance that the Republican Party will be handed it's collective ass in the midterm elections.

Instead of looking for the root causes for this turn of events I'm afraid that people on the right will be content to simply blame the media. This way of looking at things has been encouraged for many years by folks like Rush Limbaugh, and it was originally a very powerful and very true way of explaining the way politics are handled in America. Yes Virginia, the producers of the Today Show do despise all of the core values of the GOP, and yes, David Gregory does regularly vacation and socialize with Democrats only in Nantucket.

But these days, in this election it will be wrong to assume that the Republicans lose (either collectively or as a group) because media bias has elevated scandalous stories like Foleygate above any substantive issues. This narrative will be easy to propagate between 2006 and 2008, since it promises to be an extremely partisan time, when all kinds of congressional hearings and possibly impeachment proceedings will be more important than offering genuine solutions to our nation's challenges.

Many conservatives like myself think the Republican Party has done a bumbling, ineffective job at managing key issues, including the war on terror, federal spending - and most critically, defining our national agenda. This isn't 1982 anymore, and the influence of the Westport, Connecticut media is waning at all-time lows. Many other channels exist to communicate to the electorate and gather support. But the executive branch has failed miserably to use the bully pulpit, and congressional leadership has become more than useless (because that's not a bad thing in government) - they've become reactive, lazy, and foolish with our money.

To properly rehabilitate the political fortunes of conservatism it's critical to embrace a few foundational values: Accountability, leadership, and personal responsibility for one's actions. Take ownership of the outcome, and stop reflexively blaming the media for your ineffectiveness.

Tags: Democrats, Republicans, David Gregory, Rush Limbaugh