The Other McCain

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Death by Consultantitis?

Posted on | May 10, 2010 | 15 Comments

Instapundit links some interesting discussion on Republicans and the blogosphere by Dan Riehl at Riehl World View, and Melissa Clouthier weighs in at Liberty Pundits. Once you’ve read all of that, come back and let’s talk.

UPDATE: OK, so now that you’ve had time to read Dan and Melissa’s critiques of how the GOP deals with New Media, let me add this: Republicans suck at Old Media, too.

For years, I’ve noticed that the GOP communications apparatus is staffed with people who’ve never worked a day in a newsroom. When the Obama administration was staffing up, bloggers commented on the fact that an awful lot of allegedly “objective” reporters from the MSM were hiring on with Team Obama. Fair criticism, but why is it that Republicans so seldom hire reporters to do media relations?

Instead, GOP hire media staff on the same basis that they hire everybody else: “Hey, he was my buddy when we were in College Republicans together,” or, “She’s the governor’s niece. Put her on the payroll somewhere.”

The influence of cronyism within Republican Party staffing decisions is probably underestimated by outsiders, and then there is the disastrous effect of faux-meritocracy. When somebody’s college roommate doesn’t get the job, the next alternative is to hire “Joe Resume,” the immaculately groomed guy in the $700 suit who can deliver a persuasive 20-minute Powerpoint presentation. An ability to deliver the superficial appearance of competence, of course, is a poor substitute for actual competence, but Republicans place a lot of emphasis on looking good in a suit.

That the well-groomed Republicans got their asses kicked in 2008 by a campaign orchestrated by a slob like David Axelrod demonstrates the shortcomings of the Dress For Success school of political strategy. And before that, the polite Republicans got their asses kicked in 2006 by a campaign orchestrated by Rahm F***ing Emanuel.

Which is not to say that the magic formula for Republicans is to hire more rude slobs. I’m just saying that bloggers’ complaints about GOP New Media consultants, in general, replicate more general problems with the dominant culture inside Republican politics. Republicans tend to approach politics from a business perspective, which is good, except when it tends toward the MBA-cult approach:

  • Never do the job yourself, if it can be outsourced to a contractor;
  • Anything worth doing is worth hiring a consultant to tell you how to do it; and
  • No task is more important than making sure you never get blamed for anything that goes wrong.

Go back to the GOP electoral disasters of 2006-08 and see if you can remember anyone in the Republican Party who ever said, “Hey, this is my fault. I screwed up. Blame me.” If the evasion of responsibility is Job One, defining ”competence” becomes problematic. Where do these problems come from? I believe they are an ironic product of success.

The great conservative boom of the Reagan years, followed in the 1990s by the Gingrich era — when the GOP gained a 12-year hold on Congress — and the Bush presidency, attracted to the Republican Party a lot of people who took victory for granted.

Before McCain-Feingold, before the rise of MoveOn.org and the Soros apparatus, the GOP generally enjoyed a substantial fund-raising advantage over Democrats, and so Republicans became accustomed to having a few overpaid incompetents on the payroll. The people who ran the show could afford to say, “Here, give the senator’s nephew a job — any job will do – and while you’re at it, see if you can hustle up a consulting contract for my college roommate.”

Well, now the Good Old Days are gone, money’s tight, and competence is at a premium. This is a general problem in Republican politics, of which specific complaints about GOP New Media consultants are symptomatic. Bloggers have a ready-made platform on which to air their grievances, and so we tend to bitch about whatever it is that affects us specifically. But there are other people who have their own reasons to bitch about other dysfunctional aspects of the Republican Party, and we ought not let the episodic problems of the trees blind us to the systemic problems of the forest.

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Category: Blogging, Dan Riehl, Instapundit, Melissa Clouthier, Republicans

Comments

  • http://www.valley-of-the-shadow.blogspot.com JSF

    RS,

    Remember that Southland Fundraiser we are working on? The CAGOP has NO new media concerns. Been trying to get you on the phone to discuss it (and other things), but know this:

    Gary Aminoff and I are still working on getting it off the ground. It ain’t over yet.

  • http://www.valley-of-the-shadow.blogspot.com JSF

    RS,

    Remember that Southland Fundraiser we are working on? The CAGOP has NO new media concerns. Been trying to get you on the phone to discuss it (and other things), but know this:

    Gary Aminoff and I are still working on getting it off the ground. It ain’t over yet.

  • http://libertarianadvocate.blogspot.com LibertarianAdvocate

    I’ll assume you typoed and meant Consultantitis.

    OOOPS, sorry, its the pedantic lawyer in me that makes me point these things out

  • http://libertarianadvocate.blogspot.com LibertarianAdvocate

    I’ll assume you typoed and meant Consultantitis.

    OOOPS, sorry, its the pedantic lawyer in me that makes me point these things out

  • http://kingshamus.wordpress.com/ KingShamus

    I guess this is where the Tea Party folks have to step up their games.

    They’re just gonna have to save the GOP from itself.

    Again.

  • http://kingshamus.wordpress.com/ KingShamus

    I guess this is where the Tea Party folks have to step up their games.

    They’re just gonna have to save the GOP from itself.

    Again.

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  • SEF

    I was traveling through Chicago the day before Thanksgiving in 2008. Listening to the radio (WLS) when they interviewed a local reporter (Sun Times, I think) who was allowed to ask then President-elect Obama one question. This was quite a coup, apparently, as Axelrod made a point of making certain no Chicago reporters ever got to ask questions during the campaign. The reporter told the interviewer that Axelrod knew Chicago reporters from his days as one, and all the Chicago reporters would ask about were Rezko, The Daley Machine or some other questions about sleazeball Chicago politics. Rather than being angry about Axelrods’ stiff arm, this guy admired the way Axelrod jammed his former colleagues. I hope the Republicans take some of your advice, but when the other side is able to treat the media like a prison whore (and the prison whore is grateful for the treatment) it doesn’t really matter how masterful you are at ‘doing media’.

  • SEF

    I was traveling through Chicago the day before Thanksgiving in 2008. Listening to the radio (WLS) when they interviewed a local reporter (Sun Times, I think) who was allowed to ask then President-elect Obama one question. This was quite a coup, apparently, as Axelrod made a point of making certain no Chicago reporters ever got to ask questions during the campaign. The reporter told the interviewer that Axelrod knew Chicago reporters from his days as one, and all the Chicago reporters would ask about were Rezko, The Daley Machine or some other questions about sleazeball Chicago politics. Rather than being angry about Axelrods’ stiff arm, this guy admired the way Axelrod jammed his former colleagues. I hope the Republicans take some of your advice, but when the other side is able to treat the media like a prison whore (and the prison whore is grateful for the treatment) it doesn’t really matter how masterful you are at ‘doing media’.

  • OldPalTerry

    Nicely turned phrase, that: “…the Dress For Success school of political strategy.”

    And I seriously believe that Mitt Romney is the Dean of that school, having recently been promoted from the Charlie Crist Distinguished Chair of Power Style Studies.

    TELL THEM ALL TO LOSE THE YELLOW FRICKIN POWER TIE CUZ POWER CORRUPTS!

  • OldPalTerry

    Nicely turned phrase, that: “…the Dress For Success school of political strategy.”

    And I seriously believe that Mitt Romney is the Dean of that school, having recently been promoted from the Charlie Crist Distinguished Chair of Power Style Studies.

    TELL THEM ALL TO LOSE THE YELLOW FRICKIN POWER TIE CUZ POWER CORRUPTS!

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  • http://thecampofthesaints.wordpress.com Bob Belvedere

    Good one, Stace.

    As I concluded my posting, which is trackbacked above:

    We’re here. We’re willing to help. We’re not willing to be used like servants. We’ve got minds of our own [you don't see the number 6 on our lapels, so you?]. We’re ready to fight. Work with us. This is your chance GOP Establishment — your final chance. Be smart. Or we’ll roll over you like a train.

    WOLVERINES!

  • http://thecampofthesaints.wordpress.com Bob Belvedere

    Good one, Stace.

    As I concluded my posting, which is trackbacked above:

    We’re here. We’re willing to help. We’re not willing to be used like servants. We’ve got minds of our own [you don't see the number 6 on our lapels, so you?]. We’re ready to fight. Work with us. This is your chance GOP Establishment — your final chance. Be smart. Or we’ll roll over you like a train.

    WOLVERINES!

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