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This week on The Ricochet Podcast, Lileks is MIA with Skype issues, but we soldier on without him as we ponder nothing less than the future of the party and the nation at large. Our guests are RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and Red State.com’s Erick Erickson. It’s an honest, self-critical, and perhaps even hopeful conversation about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Music from this week’s show:
- It’s My Party by Leslie Gore
EJMcFly doesn’t need roads where he’s going.
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I think Lileks was out hover boarding…
Netflix?!? Holy flip, YAY!
Great Podcast! Loved Rob Long’s views on how the Internet and competitive markets are changing how the world does business. Spot on!
I agree that the RNC Chairman Reince Priebus seems a like “nice guy”, and sincere. But, his answers glossed over policy changes as an option. Data and sharing of it, does not translate into votes. The GOP can reach out and connect with a broad cross-section of the voter public, but when it comes to votes, policy matters.
Not only does the GOP need to embrace and understand humor, but the memes, jokes, and tech-culture of the Internet needs to be understood and worked. This past year, I never saw a “Gangnam Style” K-pop pro-Republican funny video on the Internet, let alone go viral. Why not?
The TelePrompter visual joke “Pull” (for Obama and shotgun) I didn’t see it. Why is the GOP not making that go viral?
Yes, Reagan he was a natural. *le sigh*
Law Talk went Gangnam style…
Here you go:
Haha! Thanks Blue Yeti!
@EJHill…hmm, interesting. Was it funny?
I appreciate Chmn. Priebus’ optimism and desire to engage in the strategy of “growing the party,” but if I might be so bold, the example of California stands as an example of why we’re in deep trouble; The reason the Democrats have taken that state over lock, stock and barrel is that they are Naked, Racialist Panderers and enablers of hedonism. Republicans CAN’T be naked, racialist panderers or tolerate bohemianism as it’s against our fundamental values.
Decoupling racial identity from party identity is something that is going to take awhile, and I don’t have a good or easy solution for how to do that. Minorities identify with the Democrats because they think that party is the party of Santa Claus and Barack Obama, while elite white liberals view it as the party where their hedonistic vision of society is indulged.
Republicans are viewed by the cohort of the young and the squishy middle (fairly or unfairly) as scolds who want to hang Scarlet Letters on them or take away their goodies.
@EJHill…hmm, interesting. Was it funny? ·1 minute ago
EJ’s Law Talk Gangnam Style is here.
@EVH – When I first saw it my reaction was, “I wish I’d done that.”
The GOP is doubling down on stupid. Missing the central issues. This is so discouraging.
What is the central issue?
@ Blue Yeti and EJ Hill….. LOL! So funny!
Thanks for the link. : )
Rob,
Any way we can get Sullivan and Son on Netflix?
Thanks!
I have to disagree with Peter’s assessment of Reince Priebus’s responses to the questions given to him. To me, he did what the president does: he merely repeated the questions, said “we” must respond to these issues properly, and then concluded as if he’d actually said something. Obviously a very nice guy who is extremely dedicated. But an answer to Republican voters’ wish for the party to clearly define and defend its principles? Not so much.
Rob somehow managed to mangle both Romney’s joke about the press and Nordlinger’s point, good work.
The reason we call Republican’s the Stupid Party is precisely because of their inability or reluctance to fight. How is it possible that Todd Akin’s inarticulateness somehow ‘represents’ all Republicans but any number of Democrat scandals not only don’t harm the Democrats in general , they don’t even harm the actual perp in question? Kennedy- manslaughter , Byrd – KKK, Clinton, Edwards and JFK predatory horn dogs , on and on there are hundreds more. The Republican ‘gentlemen’ are too polite to mention them, ‘my good friend across the aisle’ and all that. Compare that to what was said about Romney, Bork , W and others, somehow that ‘friend across the aisle’ thing only goes one way.
How was Kennedy allowed to go on for 40 years after killing that girl? Every time he opened his fat drunken mouth a Republican should have shoved ‘Mary Joe’ into it until he was driven from public life in disgrace. That’s the Republican’s problem in a nutshell. As long as he spelled potato right, it’s all good.
Our guests are RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and Red State.com’s Erick Erickson.
Great. Will there be conservative guests next week?
Great. Will there be conservative guests next week? ·0 minutes ago
Will there be Conservative Candidates next election?
Everyday it feels like the Republican Party is walking further and further away from Me.
I hear soon they’ll be speaking in tongues.
I wish you had asked Preibus about a strategy to deal with a hostile press. That more than anything is the reason Akin’s comments were so devastating.
IMO townhall formats are the best way around a hostile media, it’s much harder for them to control the narrative and dehumanize our candidates in that setting.
Whether it be universities, black churches, MTV, whatever, go to the places where we need to persuade people and engage them directly.
Here’s the joke from the Al Smith Dinner Rob was referring to (it’s at the 7:10 mark):
What is the central issue? ·10 hours ago
Issues . The media, for one. Oh wait, I’m whining again… Here is a more elaborate commentary.
The reason we call Republican’s the Stupid Party is precisely because of their inability or reluctance to fight. How is it possible that Todd Akin’s inarticulateness somehow ‘represents’ all Republicans but any number of Democrat scandals not only don’t harm the Democrats in general , they don’t even harm the actual perp in question?
Amen. And now Karl Rove who has never ONCE pushed back and defended any Republican including Bush himself has isolated himself in the wonkery pundit business at Fox and decides he’s going raise millions to make sure no more Akin’s will emerge. While I’m no Akin fan, he’s not the problem. The press will find another. When they don’t have an easy target they make one up. Romney hurt his doggie, remember? Bush is stupid, remember? It’s a war for oil, remember? No. They don’t remember. They are freaking idiots. Or else they are just using the Tea Party and Akin as foils, trying to stay in power and keep their friends happy.
At one point Jonah stated that the Right’s next, obvious, move would be to create a Right-of-Center news network with an “NPR-tone”. (You can hear him make this point at 42:40.)
Frankly, I had always believed that a Right-of-Center NPR was essentially what Ricochet’s founders intended Ricochet to be. Yeah, it isn’t a national radio news network–at least not yet–but Ricochet is developing part of the core functionality that can serve as a conservative counterpart to NPR: the ability to post smart, thoughtful and ruminative audio segments on current events.
Of course the news network functionality is still missing from Ricochet; just as NPR would not be NPR if it didn’t have its accompanying non-news shows Ricochet cannot be part of a Right-of-Center NPR unless a news network is involved.
In my view Jonah is correct–the Right needs to fill the Right-of-Center NPR space. Ricochet is already brewing part of the functionally needed. My guess is the quickest way to do this is for Ricochet to link up with existing, like-minded news organizations. The Free Beacon come to mind.
I think the direct link to this podcast does not work. MP3 file only 197KB
I was, er, amused… to hear Erick Erickson talking about how we’ve lost our way because we’ve forgotten the humor.
It happens that I think there is a little bit of substance to the point. But I’m not sure that this (and I don’t fundamentally disagree with this point either- there are indeed too many media strategists skimming cream) and this are good examples of “humor”.
I don’t take advice on humor and good nature from a guy whose stock in trade is continuous ranting about everyone to the “left” of Rand Paul.
Terrific chat with Reince Priebus & Erick Erickson. Who knew the podcast would still be good with James missing?
I wish someone would ask how damaging Todd Aiken was to Romney & the Republican Party. Romney & Priebus were in the news asking Aiken to step down for several weeks. When Aiken refused I think they both looked weaker nationally. Not because they condemned him or repeatedly called on him to resign. But because Aiken didn’t step aside and the story remained active.
Who says we don’t mock Democrat politicians Gangnam style? I do. I can’t help myself. Just part of a piece I wrote on Vermont’s economic outlook and how our proud, job-killing governor is touting stats that say we’re doing fine, when it’s stunningly clear that we’re not doing fine.