This morning's NY Times article about Newt Gingrich and company's disillusionment over President-Elect Barack Obama's Teflon image so far made for an exciting read. The article pointed out that Republicans' endless tirades against Obama's non-existent ties to the Blago scandal have so far gone up in smoke and that John McCain's defense of Obama didn't help matters. The article also said that with the nation's economy in dire straits, Americans are rejecting partisan attacks and want - "logically," per Mr. Gingrich - for Obama to succeed in getting the country back on track.
Music to my ears...
But I want to make clear that, despite the RNC's, Fox News' and daytime radio's lack of results, this doesn't mean they're giving up the ghost. Nor do they ever plan to soon. The endless whisper campaign - or should I say shriek? - from the Limbaughs and Hannitys of the world continue unabated. And no matter how centrist the people President-Elect Obama appoints or adept he may be at evading ideological labels, the partisan attacks, and the lies from the extreme Right that Americans have grown accustomed to, will continue.
Bill Clinton triangulated with the Republican party over welfare reform, the crime bill, the Telecommunications Act, DOMA and Republican defense secretary, to name a handful of examples. But how far did that get him with the opposition? Had he pursued a purely liberal agenda during his eight years in office it's arguable he would not have suffered a worse fate in the hands of the Republican-controlled Congress. Gingrich, Dick Armey and their cohorts did everything in their power to destroy the man, finally culminating in his impeachment over a sex scandal.
My point is this: The incoming Obama administration cannot be lulled into complacency over the Right's blunted criticism's so far. And while there are many decent Republicans out there who are putting country first, there will always be individuals and organizations on the Right who are hell-bent to destroy any Democrat inhabiting the White House.
Obama cannot allow Republicans, at any point, to define his agenda in the public's mind. Nor should he believe (and I'm not claiming he is yet) that any overtures to the Right will quiet their concerns.
I can't help but wonder whether there's any way Democrats can counteract the high volume of the ultra-conservative message's being blared over the airwaves. Isn't Fox News, like any of the legitimate news networks, legally obligated to offer objective analysis in their programming? (And not in name only, i.e. "Fair and Balanced.") The air waves are, after all, owned by the public and leased out free of charge to media companies with the proviso that their work serve a public purpose. And it's the FCC's responsibility to ensure the networks live up to that promise. No one should be surprised that during the Bush years the FCC steered clear of regulating Fox and daytime radio, but with an incoming Democratic White House and Congress it's high time the FCC fully did its job.
I'll be waiting - with bated breath! - for the Federal Communications Commission to finally jump back into action in the new year. "Fair and Balanced," here we come.
