Saturday, February 02, 2008

Thoughts About "Influencing" The Presidential Race

There are some pretty good comments in the blogosphere, talk radio and yes, the Dinosaur, Drive-By, Mainstream Media concerning influence, especially in this death march of a political season.
So, here are some of mine.
I will write this aspect as a sort of disclaimer.
I am an information junkie.
One of the reasons that I do blog is to share some of the information that I find, mostly on the internet. Sometimes, I blog about a subject and the next day conservative talk radio picks it up and voila! We get some conversation going.
And on some, not all issues, we get something going.
The most recent example is the so-called "comprehensive immigration reform" bill-scam. Once the public heard the ramifications of the proposed law, it started right here in the blogosphere, went on to talk radio and the rest is history. Why do you think that Sen. John "F--- You" McCain does not want to talk about the bass ackwards of the bill in the first place? Had he talked serious border enforcement first and then the pathway to citizenship, he would have won over a lot more people.
On one issue, the people were heard thanks to conservative and alternative media.
But, most radio talk show hosts are not influence peddlers. They are like you and me. Just people interested in the world around them. In fact, Rush Limbaugh is sort of like Sen. "F--- You" McCain in the sense that he emphasizes that fact that he is not doing what he does to be an inside-the-beltway influence peddler. He like most are independent thinkers.
Michael Medved in supporting Sen. "F--- You" McCain I am afraid does not get the memo. He has said that talk radio will lose influence because they are not backing Sen. "F--- You" McCain.
On the other hand Laura Ingraham said that a lot of those that are backing Sen. "F--- You" McCain are doing so because they are afraid of losing contacts and influence.
Conservative media is not going to lose any influence whether or not Sen. "F--- You" McCain is the Republican presidential nominee or not. Or if the nominee, eventual president. And, Miss Ingraham is right on the nose about some people who are more worried about losing their coveted places at the table rather than what they really think and or believe.
And that is the beauty of this media that we are all a part of. We get to say, write and talk about what we really believe.
At some level, it does influence people. Maybe it will not be to the point of determining the outcome of a presidential campaign. OOPS! I am wrong. Almost forgot about the folks over at Powerline who exposed the fraudulent documents that sunk the career of Red Dan Rather at CBS news. Hell, he decided that if you can not beat the new media, join them. He is at a little-known outfit called HD news.
Clearly, we all are a different breed. We who write, talk, comment, are activists are different from the vast majority of Americans. But, because we are who we are we do have an ability to change people's minds. If not that give people something to talk about.
I really do not think I will change the outcome of history. All I can do is find interesting stories and share them with you. I comment on them and give my perspective. If it can change a mind, that is great. But, I do not see myself as one who WANTS to be like those we watch on TV and have a stake in the outcome.
So, as many of us are about to vote in Super Duper Tuesday, think about what I have shared with you here about politics. Don't change your mind just because I have a position. Change it if you do because you have given thought to it. That is what would make what I do a happy outcome.

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