Secrets of the conservative media machine

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:21:00 +0000

To borrow a Sarah Palin aphorism, after their election defeat in 2008, conservatives didn’t retreat, they “reloaded.” Instead of finding new solutions to public policy problems or seriously reevaluating Bush’s failures, conservatives focused almost solely on new ways to communicate their old ideas. To do so, they looked to their natural allies in corporate marketing for inspiration -- and they looked to the Left for imitation. The result has been a recent and profound turnaround that has allowed the Right the bury Obama’s message and dominate the political debate.

Historical right-wing domination of the media

Traditionally, conservatives have almost always dominated direct mail solicitations, retained the best pollsters money could buy and paid for the most celebrated advertising makers. Message discipline is the first lesson for any Republican politician. Talk radio? unquestionably controlled by conservatives.

Tea Party’s feud with American Crossroads gets nastier

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:24:00 +0000

A group of conservative activists wrote a letter on Wednesday calling for the firing of Jonathan Collegio, the spokesman for the Karl Rove-backed super PAC American Crossroads, because he called one of them a "hater."

It began on WMAL-FM's “Mornings on the Mall" radio show in Washington, D.C., when conservative activist Brent Bozell accused Rove and American Crossroads of waging "gang warfare" on the Tea Party and conservatives. Collegio appeared on the show the next day and dismissed Bozell's comments. "Bozell is a hater and he also has a long, sordid history hating Karl Rove too,” Collegio said. “He has weird, personal axes to grind.”

This did not go over well with Bozell, who reportedly interpreted "hater" to mean "racist," and who rallied 24 other conservative activists to sign a letter to Crossroads president Steven Law, calling for Collegio to be sacked. “We, the free men and women of this great nation, affirm everyone’s natural right to speak their mind — but we cannot and will not abide the unjust, personal broadside your aide, Jonathan Collegio, leveled against a man whose family has dedicated itself to advancing the cause of liberty for over half a century," the letter said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Salon.com > Brent Bozell

Secrets of the conservative media machine

Tea Party’s feud with American Crossroads gets nastier