Good Advice for Conservative Politicians Who Must Deal With Media | Eastern North Carolina Now

Jim Geraghty of National Review Online explains how Republicans in positions of political power can avoid self-inflicted wounds.

ENCNow
Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Mitch Kokai.

    Jim Geraghty of National Review Online explains how Republicans in positions of political power can avoid self-inflicted wounds.

  • If you're a Republican officeholder, it is a fact of life that most of the media will be against you, and look for opportunities to make you look stupid, reckless, ill-informed, malevolent, and hopelessly out of date. You will have your own media that will be friendlier - Fox News Channel, talk radio, etc. - but by and large, you're going to have the wind in your face every day you're running for office and in office. ...
  • ... No doubt, communication skills matter a great deal for Republican officeholders, particularly the closer they get to the national stage. They're not going to get the airbrushed, protective coverage that insists Nancy Pelosi is a master strategist.
  • But even the most brilliant communication skills in the world aren't much help if they aren't connected to good judgment. Maybe one of the most underrated and under-discussed duties of a GOP elected official is to not make the job of the opposition easier. Don't hand them effective and accurate lines of criticism. Everybody's going to make mistakes, but a good elected official avoids the dumb ones. Don't practice cronyism or get caught in other scandals. Don't tell lies, and if you must spin, try to make the spin plausible. Don't overpromise, and whatever you promise, don't under-deliver. Work hard, and make sure people see you working hard. Hold your own people accountable. Know what you're talking about, and when you don't know, don't try to wing it. Have a set list of priorities that will product tangible results for your constituents, and don't get distracted by every media controversy that comes down the pike. And for God's sake, don't waste any time or energy worrying about what Mika Brzezinski or Don Lemon is saying about you.

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Swiss Billionaire Backs Democratic Gerrymandering John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics May 11th, 2021 Board of Elections Meeting


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

The existing School Board should vote to put this project on hold until new Board is seated
At least one person was shot and killed during an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday at a political rally in Pennsylvania in which the suspected gunman was also “neutralized,” according to the U.S. Secret Service.
As everyone now knows, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to grant presidents immunity for "official acts" has given Donald Trump unlimited power to do literally anything he wants with zero consequences whatsoever.
President Joe Biden formally rejected on Monday a bill in Congress that would require individuals to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in elections for federal office.
Watch and be sensitive to the events which will possibly unfold in the coming days.

HbAD1

illegal alien "asylum seeker" migrants are a crime wave on both sides of the Atlantic
majority of board member are rubberstamps for liberal superintendant
like the old Soviet Union, Biden put DEI political officers in the military
ssick perverts running Deere sponsored homosexual event for 3 year olds

HbAD2

appoints new pro-cnesorship White House official
Those with access to President Joe Biden behind closed doors say that his condition is deteriorating at an accelerated rate

HbAD3

 
Back to Top