MSNBC's Rachel Maddow made a clear and convincing argument last night that if the republicans win more in this coming election than we'd hoped - it will be because of a monumetal exception to the Tip O'neil rule that "All Politics Is Local".
Ms. Maddow makes her case like a cool prosecuting attorney who already knows the verdict. Her point is that republicans have stumbled into, almost accidentally, a new era when national messaging seems to be not only swaying young votes and independants, but generating millions in unexpected donor dollars. The result is an almost embarrassing disparity between reds and blues in key races like the one between Palin wannabe, Christine O'Donnell and wannbe-even-more Dem contender, Chris Coons.
Maddow: (quoting Sharron Angle) "We made 40 grand ... before we even got out of the studio ... in New York, doing Mr. Hannitiy's show". Republicans Candidates Should Speak Through Fox News. That's the advice they are giving each other, because they have seen the effects, first hand. "Republicans should be raising money through Fox News". That's what they're telling each other when it happens to them. Democrats and republicans are operating in a media landscape that we have never had before in this country. We have never before had a television network designed to raise money for the candidates of one party. And because of that, All Politics are not local anymore! (...) If Democrats are not messaging and trying to compete at a national level simply in order to raise money, it does not matter how good their messaging is locally. They will get BURIED in conservative money; BURIED in national conservative money that they raised nationally and have no shame about. All Politics used to be local, Democrats want it to still be local. Those times are passed. Democrats should compete nationally or they do not complete at all.
This is one of those moments that makes one hope someone in the White House just happened to be taking a break at around 9 o'clock last night and caught Maddow's show. Perhaps elections aren't decided