This ties to Lesley's post #48 on the white coat thread

[BC-NanceLee]

Brooks nailed it.

David Brooks: Pay no heed to that man behind the mic

GOP needs to listen less to talk jocks and more to real voters.

By David Brooks

Last update: October 4, 2009 - 8:39 PM

Let us take a trip back into history. Not ancient history. Recent history. It is the winter of 2007. The presidential primaries are approaching. The talk jocks such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the rest are over the moon about Fred Thompson. They're weak at the knees at the thought of Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, they are hurling torrents of abuse at the unreliable deviationists: John McCain and Mike Huckabee.

Yet somehow, despite the fervor of the great microphone giants, the Thompson campaign flops like a fish. Despite the schoolgirl delight from the radio studios, the Romney campaign underperforms.

Meanwhile, Huckabee surges. Limbaugh attacks him, but social conservatives flock.

Along comes New Hampshire, and McCain wins! Republican voters have not heeded their masters in the media. Before long, South Carolina looms as the crucial point of the race. The contest is effectively between Romney and McCain. The talk jocks are now in spittle-flecked furor. Day after day, whole programs are dedicated to hurling abuse at McCain and everybody ever associated with him. The jocks are threatening to unleash their angry millions.

Yet the imaginary armies do not materialize. McCain wins the South Carolina primary and goes on to win the nomination. The talk jocks can't even deliver the conservative voters who show up at Republican primaries. They can't even deliver South Carolina!

So what is the theme of our history lesson? It is a story of remarkable volume and utter weakness. It is the story of media mavens who claim to represent a hidden majority but who in fact represent a mere niche, even in the Republican Party. It is a story as old as "The Wizard of Oz," of grand illusions and small men behind the curtain.

But, of course, we shouldn't be surprised by this story. Over the past few years the talk jocks have demonstrated their real-world weakness time and again. Back in 2006, they threatened to build a new majority on anti-immigration fervor. House Republicans such as J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, both of Arizona, built their reelection campaigns under that banner. But these two didn't march to glory. Both lost their seats.

In 2008, after McCain had won his nomination, Limbaugh turned his attention to the Democratic race. He commanded his followers to vote in the Democratic primaries for Hillary Rodham Clinton because, "We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically." Todd Donovan of Western Washington University has looked at data from 38 states and could find no strong evidence that significant numbers of people actually did what Limbaugh commanded. Rush blared the trumpets, but few of his Dittoheads advanced.

Over the years, I have asked dozens of politicians what happens when Limbaugh and his colleagues attack. The story is always the same. Hundreds of calls come in. The receptionists are miserable, but the numbers back home do not move. In the media world, he is a giant. In the real world, he's not.

Yet no matter how often their hollowness is exposed, the jocks still reweave the myth of their own power. And they are aided in this endeavor by their enablers -- by cynical Democrats, who love to claim that Rush Limbaugh controls the GOP; by lazy pundits who find it easier to argue with showmen than with people whose opinions are based on knowledge; by the slightly educated snobs who believe that Glenn Beck really is the voice of Middle America.

So the myth returns. Just months after the election and the humiliation, everyone is again convinced that Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the rest possess real power. And the saddest thing is that even Republican politicians come to believe it. They mistake media for reality. They preemptively surrender to armies that don't exist.

They pay more attention to Rush's imaginary millions than to the real voters down the street. The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity. The party is losing because it has adopted a radio entertainer's niche-building strategy, while abandoning the politician's coalition-building strategy.

The rise of Beck, Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and the rest has correlated almost perfectly with the decline of the GOP. But it's not because the talk jocks have real power. It's because they have illusory power, because Republicans hear the media mythology and fall for it every time.

David Brooks' column is distributed by the New York Times News Service.

David Brooks: Pay no heed to that man behind the mic | StarTribune.com

[andys]

Read this sunday, and he builds his case well, but I don't buy it at all. There is grass roots outrage with what is going on. There is a growing underclass that is being propped up by what the Dem's are selling, and these people will support Obama no matter what, and that's the strategey, but the Dem's do these people no favors in the long run. As a parent you can do everything for your child for eighteen years, and they will accept it and become dependent, and you will have all the control. But when it comes time for them to go on there own they will have no life skils and will be miserable. But the Dem's plan on having these people at the govt trough forever.

There still is a (shrinking) majority of people that don't want Obama's socialism. But for me its more about the fact that the long term fiscal viabiltiy of the country is not even on Obama's radar, hell, even his health care reform does not make fiscal sense, not bending the cost curve, maybe if he admits that we will have rationing under his grand design. And don't go one about Canada's system, we just saw the statements from their health ministry that their system is not fiscally sustainable either.

[LandJ]

Originally Posted by BC-NanceLee

GOP needs to listen less to talk jocks and more to real voters.

I'm not even going to read the article based on this statement alone. That's the dumbest statement I've read in a long time. Makes it seem as if GOP members aren't smart enough to 1. get their info from anywhere other than "talk jocks" and 2. make up their own minds and have to parrot "talk jocks."

I'm sick of being told that GOP members get all their info and make their decisions based on the likes of Limbaugh, et al.

[intheknow]

This just goes to show how scared the liberals are of talk radio. Especially since they have failed misrably im using that medium to get their message out.

[Maddy00]

Originally Posted by LandJ

I'm not even going to read the article based on this statement alone. That's the dumbest statement I've read in a long time. Makes it seem as if GOP members aren't smart enough to 1. get their info from anywhere other than "talk jocks" and 2. make up their own minds and have to parrot "talk jocks."

I'm sick of being told that GOP members get all their info and make their decisions based on the likes of Limbaugh, et al.

EXACTLY!!! Despite NL's contention that we all wear nose rings, it's simply not true. So insulting and OLD! Get a new line please...this one is just plain worn out and inaccurate.

Food for thought: maybe it's not the GOP who needs to re-evaluate their media sources...

[rae]

David Brooks missed his mark. He writes for the NY Times and he should have written this column aimed at the DNC.

I think all politicians sitting in office need to pay attention to the public. Since most of those in office on a national level are on the left side of the aisle, they would be wise to pay particular attention to their constituency if they hope to hold that super majority. They have the most to lose. Election 2008 is history and 2010 looms ahead.

[BC-Tracik]

Thanks for posting NL. I haven't read this yet and it was interesting food for thought

[BC-NanceLee]

Originally Posted by LandJ

I'm not even going to read the article based on this statement alone. That's the dumbest statement I've read in a long time. Makes it seem as if GOP members aren't smart enough to 1. get their info from anywhere other than "talk jocks" and 2. make up their own minds and have to parrot "talk jocks."

I'm sick of being told that GOP members get all their info and make their decisions based on the likes of Limbaugh, et al.

I *think* he is referring to GOP leadership; advising them to listen to "real voters" like you and other GOP members.

[Maddy00]

Originally Posted by BC-NanceLee

I *think* he is referring to GOP leadership; advising them to listen to "real voters" like you and other GOP members.

NL, the "real voters" have and are speaking. It's the libs and dems that can't bring themselves to accept what we are saying. Instead they (you) like to imply we are idiots and can't think for ourselves. You couldn't be further from the mark.

If you honestly believe the GOP is faltering, I'd respectfully suggest you expand your search for news. Obama and company have awakened a sleeping giant. If you believe otherwise...you've been misled.

[LandJ]

Originally Posted by BC-NanceLee

I *think* he is referring to GOP leadership; advising them to listen to "real voters" like you and other GOP members.

And by that one statement at the beginning....it doesn't matter who he's referring to. It makes it sound like he thinks the "GOP leadership" only get their opinions from the likes of Limbaugh, etc.