A Consistent Progressive Message

After I talked about the Democratic Party appealing to a centrist voter, I continue to be ambivalent. Then this article from Political Strategy came my way and I can't avoid its common sense.
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This is what the republicans did right:

Create radio and cable ratings success with "Fire and Brimstone"

Maintain disciplined and consistent message among members

Built media/propaganda infrastructure with think tanks, Fox News and AM Hate-radio

This is what the Democrats have done wrong in the past, but are now correcting:

Create radio and cable ratings failure with "policy complexity" and "milquetoast personalities"

Maintained fractured message with little unity

Failed to build a media/propaganda infrastructure

Complete Article
Making Headway to a Progressive Infrastructure
By Tom Ball
01/28/05
Long ago, in an era not long past, there was a political party that went about its business as though it had little with which to concern itself.
Times were prime -- prosperity, peace. That's right...a Democrat was in the White House and all was relatively well.
Then something horrible happened. An opposition propaganda network popped up among the ranks of the cable back-benchers. At first not many thought much of it, but as days passed, its effects began to ripple through the halls of reason -- tearing down walls and upending the foundations of objective reality.
The Democrats ignored the scofflaw at first, dismissing it to the bunks of juvenile detention.
It was not long, however, that the scofflaw blossomed into a full-fledged felon, persistently skirting the standards of decency and morality. It was then, and only then, that the Democrats recognized that the felon was not alone. In fact it was but a single element within a highly organized gang of societal usurpers -- a gang that perpetrated crimes without punishment or accountability.
And then one day it happened. The felonious crew stole the presidency of the united states of America. From then, their power only grew. The Democrats were hopeless, powerless...hapless.
Until yet again a day arrived when the tides would begin to turn.
It was in the wee months of 2003....and the Democrats were finally starting to get it.

When the tide began to turn -- January 2003:

"Worried that their party has been outgunned in the political propaganda wars by conservative radio and television personalities, influential Democrats are scouring the nation for a liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh and the many others on the deep bench of Republican friends."

Former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta met with ultra-rich progressives (notably entrepreneur Steven T. Kirsch, media mogul Haim Saban and CEO of RealNetworks Rob Glazer) to devise a plan for a liberal media come-back noting that the message of the left had been buried by the right-wing propaganda machine and that it was time for the progressive community to become aggressive in getting its message out to the rest of the nation. (Note: In seeming faint-praise, Podesta even notes the role of the progressive web in their efforts.)
Essentially, we found ourselves in that situation because we failed to do what the Republicans had done -- they recognized that infrastructure investment is the solution to the long-term development of their message and they've known it since the days of Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon.
This is what the republicans did right:
* Create radio and cable ratings success with "Fire and Brimstone"
* Maintain disciplined and consistent message among members
* Built media/propaganda infrastructure with think tanks, Fox News and AM Hate-radio
This is what the Democrats have done wrong in the past, but are now correcting:
* Create radio and cable ratings failure with "policy complexity" and "milquetoast personalities"
* Maintained fractured message with little unity
* Failed to build a media/propaganda infrastructure
So what was a progressive to do?
1) Create radio and cable ratings success by "planting thousands of seeds". Coming to grips with the fact that creating a liberal cable network in the near future is unlikely, focus on the prospects of building a powerful, progressive legion of radio talkshow hosts to combat the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Nevertheless, continue the development of a 'Liberal Cable Network' (Thank you Al Gore.)

"We're going to go out and identify talent and help them to create programming and actually connect them with local stations," said Tom Athens, head of Democracy Radio Inc. "We want to plant a thousand seeds and see how many flowers actually arise."

Progressives acknowledge the failure of past liberal radio shows but sight that the difference between liberal failure and conservative success is not policy but rather personality.

"Most liberal talk shows are so, you know, milquetoast, who would want to listen to them?" said Harry Thomason, the Hollywood producer who is close to Bill Clinton. "Conservatives are all fire and brimstone."

Mr. Athens said his group would encourage its new progressive hosts to be "brazen and entertaining."
And along came Air America, now boasting a powerful presence in 46 major markets with such on-air personalities as Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, and Janeane Garofalo.
Other liberal talk-show personalities have since had success as well. Some prominent examples are Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller, and Jerry Springer.
2) Unify the party and its message around central talking points. Republicans have been able to maintain a consistent message across all members who follow the lead of party strategists Paul Weyrich, Frank Luntz, and Grover Norquist (not to mention Karl Rove). Democrats, on the other hand, tend to march to the beat of their own drum.

"Democrats have long claimed that the circuit has corralled conservative thinkers, and more important, conservative media, into a disciplined message of the week that gets repeated attention from Web sites like the Drudge Report, Mr. Limbaugh's radio show, Fox News's prime-time talk shows and the editorial pages of The Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal."

Steve Kirsch, one of the idea men behind this movement explained:

"We will have components that will include messaging, message delivery and coordination of progressive groups so progressives will speak with more of a unified voice."

Enter the Center for American Progress, and the RockRidge Institute. Together, they represent the beginning of a progressive brain-trust able to cultivate ideas, nurture intellectual prospects, and provide a unified message complete with value-based policy directives and tactical talking points.
3) Build a media/propaganda infrastructure including radio/TV pundits and talkshow hosts, think tanks, research organizations, watchdogs, and a possible cable network.
Here, we have the hopeful development described in the two posts, “A Progressive Infrastructure”, and “Could Ted Turner Become a New Progressive Sugar Daddy?” noting the rise of the left-wing infrastructure financiers: George Soros, Herb and Marion Sandler, Peter Lewis and others. They will help to counter the right-wing billionaires -- Koch, Olin, Lambe, Bradley, Scaife, McKenna, etc.
Fortunately, some infrastructure has already been established. This includes all of the following with more to follow: Air America Radio (Currently 46 markets and growing), Media Matters, the Center for American Progress, and the RockRidge Institute.
In the works (hopefully) are the acquisition of a news channel by Al Gore and the temporarily on-hold possibility of a US version of the Progressive UK Guardian.
Let's not forget the growing backbone of this movement -- the progressive web which includes the left-leaning blogsphere and other websites with special mention going to Dailykos, MYDD, The Raw Story, Buzzflash, Common Dreams, Democratic Underground, and Democrats.com just to name a few.
And we should not ignore the figures who have sparked life into the political left: Howard Dean, Michael Moore, and George Soros among others (Jon Stewart?)
In addition, there are a bevy of progressive political books, but there is not currently a book publisher specifically designed to publish and promote liberal books. The right has such a counterpart in Regnery Publishing. This is a critical element to ensure that progressive ideas are available for consumption and promoted to a broad audience.
In any event, it is clear that all is not lost. We've finally figured it out and we're working to that end. In the meantime, we take our stand, concede not one inch, and press forward as though our lives depend upon our ultimate success.
They do.