We mentioned earlier how Newsweek's Michael Hirsh wrote a piece explaining all about how the White House is losing the P.R. war over the stimulus bill. But how amazingly, at least according to Hirsh, the media has played no role in that setback for Obama.
Right on cue, Dionne chimes in today in the WaPo with pretty much the same argument. “Obama Losing the Media War,” read the headline to Dionne's column in my local newspaper. (That's the beauty of a CW; everybody inside the Beltway agrees on what to write.)
Just like Hirsh, Dionne laments how “Republicans have succeeded in defining” the stimulus 'debate.' Just like Hirsh, Dionne offers up some remedies. And just like Hirsh, Dionne doesn't think the press has played any role in tilting the stimulus 'debate' in the GOP's favor.
At the risk of repeating ourselves, we'd note Dionne completely ignores the statistics released last which which showed there were twice as many Republicans invited onto cable TV to 'debate' the bill, as compared to Democrats. He completely ignores the fact that journalists reporting on the stimulus bill continue to tirelessly misinform the public about its content. And how journalists have all but ingested GOP talking points about the bill and practically spit them out as easily as taking a breathe.
Dionne says the White House is losing the P.R. war on the stimulus bill. And Dionne may be right. But according to Dionne, the press has played no role in the White House setback. None.