GOP House Speaker battle looked like this
Republicans don’t know how to govern effectively, but they do know how to grab the media spotlight. This was demonstrated during the recent Republican battle for U.S. House Speaker. After narrowly winning the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections, the GOP’s first task in the new year was to elect a Speaker. They failed miserably at this job, requiring a historic 15 votes before finally electing Kevin McCarthy.
But what seemed to get everyone’s attention were the 20 or so Republican House representatives-elect, many of whom are members of the so-called “Freedom Caucus,” who battled against McCarthy’s speakership, and at least one who fought on McCarthy’s side. The members who seemed to be on camera or in front of microphones all the time especially included Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz. Others on hand to a slightly lesser extent were familiar names such as Lauren Boebert and Jim (“Gym”) Jordan, so nicknamed because of his alleged involvement in a sexual abuse scandal involving wrestlers at Ohio State University. We’re not going to mention these names again in this post. Such representatives are known more for being superficial blowhards who say outrageous things rather than for the often dull but crucial work of legislating.
In short order, the GOP House Speaker election became about Republican media stars rather than about policy and substance. Such camera-hogging tactics worked, as McCarthy reportedly had to make numerous concessions to these members in order to secure their votes. What we call the GOP Civil War, also known as Republicans in Disarray, was on full, ugly display. But we already saw how a media celebrity made it into the White House six years ago, and the disastrous results that followed. The last thing we should do is feed that shallow, destructive process again by focusing our full attention on those Republican media hustlers.
In particular, this House Republican Speaker battle, splashed across the airwaves, should serve as another good reminder that anyone who uses social media can be their own news editor and broadcaster. We can set up our feeds to include good reliable news sources and journalists, and filter out the ones who traffic in false information, conspiracy theories and fluff. Then we can highlight and share the information that we want, so that we get more control over the narrative and the public discussion of issues. The number of such social media platforms is growing, with sites like Mastodon gaining increasing use and influence. Messaging Matters is there, under the handle @MessagingMatters@mstdn.social.
As always, it’s important for Democrats to put forward their agenda and tell their story, rather than let the Republicans dictate the terms to the media and the public. And this Democratic story is a good one. It includes, for example:
—Moderating inflation
—Declining gasoline prices
—Historic job creation and record low unemployment
—World leadership in support of Ukraine against Russia‘s unlawful invasion
–Upholding democracy and the rule of law, whether in the United States, Brazil or elsewhere
Our story really is more compelling than the GOP’s, so hopefully we can focus on and share it, rather than letting the other side fill a media vacuum with their vacuous posturing.
Photo by Peter Gordon, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/75PVlZ
