I agree that it is a winning message, and shows signs of life in some unusual places: independents are a weird bunch, but it’s pretty clear what they don’t like doing.
Still, I don’t feel like the media or the Democrats are on the retreat, not at all. I think they’ve figured out the trick is to maintain fever pitch: make sure conservatives are still painted as bigots and hypocrites, make sure the world still knows how failed Bush was (even as this is an increasingly dubious proposition), and whatever one does, don’t aim low. Look like you’re having a vision and people who want to like you will get on board, no matter how corrupt and stupid the party you belong to is.
I’m actually less inclined to blame President Obama and the Democrats for this state of affairs: I’m really disgusted with the news media and the fact that the citizenry of the United States refuses to read, despite the wonderful diversity of partisan media in print. My own thought is that the GOP has to make some nod to creating a more informed party, and informed on a deeper level as to why people might want to consider the Republican platform. Republicans should outclass Democrats: just be that much more informed and articulate, and hope that people will want to be Republican. I discuss this in part in “An Open Letter to Sarah Palin” – why is it that media reform may have to involve partisanship?
