GOP strategists plot anti-media strategy for 2018 elections

[babylonsister]

GOP strategists plot anti-media strategy for 2018 elections

By Alex Roarty and Lindsay Wise


Conservative radio hosts mock a physical assault on a reporter. A GOP governor blasts a reporter on Twitter as "a sick man." The president accuses the media of being an “enemy of the state.”

This is not run-of-the-mill Republican criticism of the press anymore. It is now a deliberate strategy to help GOP candidates win elections fueled by public hatred of reporters.

“Does anyone want to see a reporter badly injured? No," said Tobe Berkovitz, a Boston University advertising expert who advises congressional and gubernatorial election campaigns. "But there are some people who think this is their comeuppance: ‘You’ve been strutting around with no accountability and maybe you should be held accountable.’”

A party that traditionally has had a fraught relationship with the media has become outright hostile, led by a president who picks more fights with journalists than any GOP leader since Richard Nixon.

But interviews with Republican strategists and party leaders across the country reveal that what started as genuine anger at allegedly unfair coverage — or an effort to deflect criticism — is now an integral part of next year’s congressional campaigns.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article154106459.html

[kimbutgar]

1. What happens in this strategy if a legimate reporter is murdered????

Will it wake up the brain washed? Or are there too many brainwashed by fox and Reich wing radio.

[ProudLib72]

3. tRump will then be a hero

No, I'm not kidding.

[kimbutgar]

7. That is appalling

[ProudLib72]

8. Gianforte was praised for taking down Ben Jacobs

The RWNJs basically said it was about time for the press to receive their due for maligning rethuglicans. Instead of denouncing Gianforte, tRump let it slide. The GOP let it slide. This comes after only four months of the tRump admin. Imagine another four months. Imagine next fall!

[Squinch]

2. Well then for their own safety, the press shouldn't cover Republicans.

[bronxiteforever]

4. Kick for visibility and the hope that we have strategists to counter this.

The party needs a war room against the GOP in 2018.

[Awsi Dooger]

5. Distrust of media is paranoid frailty

That's why it blends perfectly with Republican mindset.

Something is said or done. There is a description of what was said or done. Relevant questions attached. That's all fairly basic. Likewise it's not complicated when one side doesn't like the descriptions of what was said or done, and launches the paranoid frailty.

On political forums on sports sites I frequent, I noticed more than a decade ago that the ultra nutcase wingers were most distrusting of media. Now there's no question it has spread considerably. I'm very surprised at some of the posters on those sites who now express animosity toward the media. Republicans have a running start on this topic.

[D_Master81]

6. Trump has blown open

Trump has blown open something that has been building for years. RW talk radio has basically said the media is biased against them and outright lies and fabricates stories in favor of Dems for years. Imagine hearing this day after day for years. After awhile you not only believe it, you want to get back at them. So Trump comes along with how he acts and instead of thinking he's a tool, they think he's a hero who speaks for them. This is toothpaste, it cant go back in the tube, even after Trump.