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ProSense

(116,464 posts)
Sun Jul 1, 2012, 02:39 PM Jul 2012

Romney Advisers Reveal Strategy: Ignore Journalists, Pander To Right-Wing Conspriacy Websites

Romney Advisers Reveal Strategy: Ignore Journalists, Pander To Right-Wing Conspriacy Websites

By Judd Legum

In a stunning interview with Breitbart.com, two top advisers to Mitt Romney revealed the campaign’s plan to largely ignore journalists in favor of right-wing conspiracy websites.

From the beginning of the campaign, Romney has pointedly avoided news outlets who might pose tough questions. The press dubbed it “the Mittness Protection Program.” As the campaign wore on, Romney has refused to answer direct questions about major policy issues central to the campaign...Romney campaign spokesman Lenny Alcivar recently outlined how the campaign will avoid journalists and cooridnate and communicate their message through Brietbart.com and the Drudge Report:

When this election is over, one of the lessons that will be learned by the mainstream media is that they no longer have a toe-hold on how Americans receive their news. Never before – in a way that has taken Democrats off stride – have we seen the confluence of an aggressive online community, led by Breitbart, and an aggressive campaign team not willing to cede an inch of ground to Democrats. This combination has created a new political reality. We no longer allow the mainstream media to define the political realities in America. The rise of Breitbart, Drudge and others, combined with an aggressive Romney campaign is a powerful tool in the arsenal of the conservative movement.

The governor will no longer allow the mainstream media to dictate the terms of this debate. This is just the beginning… We are witnessing the rise of the center right media.

The Drudge Report and Breitbart.com, founded the late Andrew Breitbart, a Drudge protoge, are actually far-right websites that reguarly traffic in paranoid and offensive conspiracy theories. A few examples:

1. The Drudge Report aggressively pushes the birther conspiracy theory. Drudge promoted Jerome Corsi’s book alleging Obama was not born in the United States. After Obama released his long form birth certificate, Drudge pushed the theory that it was a forgery. He recently featured a discredited story (first published on Brietbart.com) suggesting Obama was born in Kenya. (ThinkProgress, 5/17/12; Drudge Report, 4/20/11; TPM, 4/29/11)

2. The Drudge Report pushed the theory that Chief Justice Robert upheld Obamacare because of “cognitive problems” due to epilepsy medication. (ThinkProgress, 6/29/12)

3. The Drudge Report reguarly links to and promotes 9/11 truther Alex Jones. Jones also promotes conspiracy theories regarding “global elites enacting one-world government; secret FEMA camps; weather control; mass sterilization; the Oklahoma City bombing; the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster; vaccines; and the government using products like juice boxes to ‘encourage homosexuality with chemicals so that people don’t have children.’” (Red State, 6/20/11; Media Matters, 10/11/10)

<...>

It’s not just Romney’s advisors who are promoting sites like Drudge and Breitbart.com. In an interview with NewsMax, another far right site, Romney personally praised the Drudge Report.

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/07/01/509328/romney-advisors-reveal-strategy-ignore-journalists-pander-to-right-wing-conspriacy-websites/

Recipe for lunacy: Mix one part nuts with two parts faux "liberal media" conspiracy, stir well and stuff rich frat boy who enjoys "pranks" and likes to destroy stuff (including people's lives).



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Romney Advisers Reveal Strategy: Ignore Journalists, Pander To Right-Wing Conspriacy Websites (Original Post) ProSense Jul 2012 OP
Plus, of course, Fox News muriel_volestrangler Jul 2012 #1
The Right is certainly brazen about their agenda now. railsback Jul 2012 #2
Since the Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers... Bigmack Jul 2012 #3

muriel_volestrangler

(101,294 posts)
1. Plus, of course, Fox News
Sun Jul 1, 2012, 02:59 PM
Jul 2012

The involvement of Fox will lend 'legitimacy' to the nutcase sites like Breitbart, WND and Drudge - Fox can start with "it's widely reported" (meaning those 3 plus assorted other wingnut sites - Fox won't mention that no-one who could truthfully be called a 'journalist' was involved), and then push it until other cable (or network) news thinks it has to cover what Fox is giving so much time to. And it return, Fox gets to blame the lies and fantasies on "partisan websites" if it needs to - pretending to have been just "fair and balanced" about what it reports.

It's been done before, of course (eg Swift Boating, birthers), but this seems to say it will be a major tactic by Romney. Feed everything through wingnuts, and hope to dominate the news cycle without awkward questions about truthfulness or actual policies.

 

railsback

(1,881 posts)
2. The Right is certainly brazen about their agenda now.
Sun Jul 1, 2012, 03:58 PM
Jul 2012

Of course, all it does is appease the base. I'm sure Romney has his own ideas of how to run a country, but he's been reduced to a five finger stooge and has no backbone to take a stand on anything. Its like listening to Krauthammer reading passages of a torrid romance novel.

 

Bigmack

(8,020 posts)
3. Since the Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers...
Sun Jul 1, 2012, 04:08 PM
Jul 2012

... I don't care what sites Romney is pandering to.

As soon as we get the word out about that belief... and others, like "No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith..". ... I think the RW will flee in droves.

http://www.godvoter.org/mormon-jesus-satan-brothers.html

http://listverse.com/2008/02/04/top-10-bizarre-mormon-beliefs/

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