Jim Devine wrote: > > Is my impression right that the GOP-backed "tea parties" that occurred > yesterday (protesting taxes, Obama, and government in general) got > much more press coverage than similarly-sized anti-war rallies and > other rallies on the left? This is not counting Rupert Murdoch's Fox > Network's special effort to endorse and cultivate these "parties."
No doubt. But this is just one minor example of a larger point. When conservatie (even quite freakishly conservative) organizations begin to "build from the base" (i.e., run local electoral campaigns, etc), they (a) have rhetoric that differs very little if at all from mainstream rhetoric, (b) are treated kindly by the media, (c) have solid representation in Congress and in state legislatures, (d) can maintain their local and (with monor losses) their legislative bases even during periods when there is a temporary swing to the "left." And yet one is continually encountering leftists (mostly academics and journalists) who want the left to build up slowly from the base in that way. And that of course is a certain formula to dilute what left strength might exist at any given time. Carrol _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
