A Call for Daily Talking Points

I've been impressed by how the press slavishly repeats the Republicans' talking points all the time, and I guess it's because.....they have them.  This has been so successful for the Repubs that I've wondered for a while why Democrats don't have daily talking points.

So I'm proposing that we have daily talking points.

And when I say we, I mean the Democratic and liberal blogs.  Essentially what I'm proposing is this:

(1) Once or more a week, Chris or Jerome, Kos, Atrios, and Josh Marshall (or some such group) exchange a series of emails proposing lists of talking points for the coming week.  One of them is the moderator each week, and that moderator tries to let everybody get a point or two in, but he gets final say.  The moderator position rotates.

(2) How do our fearless leaders (FLs) decide what talking points to submit to the above process?   Presumably Josh Marshall just makes his up himself, because that's how he works.  Here it could be done with suggestions from all of us in comments and polls, but it's basically whatever Chris and Jerome want.

(3) Once the ubermoderator has chosen the 7 talking points, he assigns them to seven days, and assigns whoever is most passionate/available to write them.  Let's say Tuesday's talking point is social security reform, Chris was enthusiastic about it and had agreed to write the talking point.  Last thing Monday night he posts the talking point.  It's written so that the post's title makes the talking point succinctly, the first sentence makes the point a bit less succinctly but still very persuasively, and the whole post is less than ten lines long.  Often it'll include two or three zingers.

(4) The other FLs wake up Tuesday morning.  They either take Chris's post verbatim or, if they feel like writing a bit, they can write it differently.  It's labelled today's talking point.  Maybe it even has a spot in the sidebar.

(5) Other bloggers also echo it if we like. If we want to influence the stream of daily talking points we do so as members of mydd.

(6) When each of us read it we know it's the talking point of the day.  It's the point to bring up over lunch with the people at work.  It's the point to call a radio talk show about.  If you're one of the people who goes to mediamatters and sends complaints about right-wing bias to news organizations, then when you see the talking point one of the things you do is look for items related to that talking point, and you complain about them.  It's the point you mention to your mom if you talk to her about politics on the phone.

That's about it.  It seems like somebody needs to do it.  It seems like it could be done without too much effort (easier said, I know).   It seems like the lefty blogs are a unified, rising group that could take control of this problem and fix it.


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Yes, yes! This is long overdue! (none / 0)

Why didn't party leaders figure this out after the last election?  Or during the current campaign?  Where ARE they?

Please, Fearless Blog Leaders, we look to you for leadership on this issue.  We'll help shape daily talking points and follow them as... well, "slavishly" doesn't really seem the word but "faithfully" and "intelligently" as we can.  In any event, even 50% compliance and focus of effort would be an enormous step forward from where we are today.  Thank you for this idea.

by Alna Dem on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 09:50:11 AM EST

Great Idea (none / 0)

This is a great idea. It could even be expanded later to include local issues.

A suggestion: include a sidebar with suggested ways to use the talking points (as mentioned above). Include email addresses and phone numbers of people to contact. Like cable shows, nightly news, talk radio, columnists, etc. That will make it easier to get the talking points out into the world.

Sweet is war to those who have not experienced it. (dulce bellum inexpertus) from Adagia by Desiderius Erasmus - 1515
by Herb La Tortue on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 10:59:44 AM EST

Talking point selection bloodbath thread rules (none / 0)

Ewwww.... there's going to be bloody smears from coast to coast from the bloody war war that approaches regarding who gets to decide what the talking points are.

So, some ground rules for the approaching flame war. Mention Hitler or Stalin and you lose. Call someone a freeper, you lose. Last time I checked, none of you are Dave Chappelle... anyone other than Dave Chappelle that uses language from Dave Chappelle's act or skits loses. Also, question the Chappelle rule, you lose. You know why the rule has been imposed.

by afs on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:11:39 AM EST


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