Lefty Progressives - Win Ideas but Lose Message?

Tom Paine hands us "Why Democrats Lose" by Robert Parry which seems to tie in nicely to Kos and Armstong's Crashing the Gate which I've nearly polished off. I'll give you portions of what Mr. Parry wrote:

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

Given the clout and cruelty of the conservative news media—and the me-too conformity of the mainstream press—many Democratic officeholders feel that to be “taken seriously,” they must hedge or “triangulate” their views even between elections. That’s how they get onto the Sunday talk shows and are treated with “respect.”

On the other hand, Republicans harbor no similar fears and indeed seem to relish taking the fight to even mildly skeptical mainstream talk show hosts, who, in turn, must fear for their careers if they are targeted as “liberal” by angry and well-organized conservatives.

As conservatives keep building up their media infrastructure, Republicans exploit this advantage with an instantaneous message machine that keeps them plugged into their backers and the broader electorate. The GOP then puts into play a powerful wedge issue in the weeks before the election, and the missteps of the Democrats—no matter how minor—are blared out to voters.

Conversely, liberals and progressives continue to shun any major funding for media content and outlets. The Democratic consultants spend the bulk of available money on devising strategies to finesse the conservative dominance, mostly by filtering campaign “themes” through focus groups. Democrats then deploy ads that leave even their core supporters uninspired, and the candidates usually stumble to defeat.

Given the current media imbalance to the right, there is a desperate need to level the playing field by having more media outlets that present views more from the left side of the political spectrum. Liberals and progressives simply cannot count on the mainstream news media to act as a counterweight to conservative news outlets. That is not in the job description of mainstream journalists, who understand that their careers will be better served if they tilt right and avoid getting stuck with the “liberal” label.

Since 2004, the left has benefited somewhat from the creation of Air America Radio and the emergence of progressive talk stations around the country. But those cash-strapped start-ups never had the strong backing of wealthy liberals and thus have been forced to skimp on advertising and production of original news content.

Another problem was that wealthy liberals were listening to the same Democratic consultant class that had led the party to lose control of the entire U.S. government—from the White House to Congress to the courts. Like political candidates, wealthy liberals felt safer giving money to operations run by “credentialed” Democratic operatives.

Indeed the lefty progressives do need to tap into the media with a better message yet I'll also caution that "ours" is often genuinely "real" so less able to be distributed. Given the Kos Armstrong work I've knocked out the consultant class is hardly in good stead these days. Peace ... or War!