Senator Defector

Arlen Specter’s recent announcement that he would be leaving the GOP to join the Democratic Party has been greeted with the predictable media bru-ha-ha. Exaggeration and blatantly partisan analysis of the senator's decision has dominated coverage of the story. In a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly familiar, anchors on the 24 hour news networks framed Specter’s switch as a "seismic, seismic" political story, despite the rather mundane realities behind the senator’s political switcharoo.

Pundits have been quick to inform the public that Specter’s decision is a "political earthquake" because it will place the Senate Democrats at the all-important 60 member majority. 60 votes are required to stop filibusters, and theoretically - if Al Franken gets his seat – Specter’s position as a Democrat would allow the party to achieve this (largely symbolic) milestone. This angle, which has dominated much of the coverage regarding Specter’s decision, is a fairly shortsighted take on the issue. It seems as if many political experts are simply ignoring Specter’s assertion that he will be no more bound to vote along the party line as a Democrat that he has been as a Republican. It is therefore entirely possible that Specter’s switch will not result in the Democrats having any more voting power than they did when he was a moderate Republican who occasionally strayed from the party line.

Specter’s announcement also drew the predictable partisan coverage that has come to define the 24 news networks. Left wing pundits, such as MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, gleefully hailed Specter’s defection as yet another sign that the Republican Party is a sinking ship, noting that the newly minted Democrat explained his switch by denouncing the GOP as "impractical and extremist."

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Conservatives have jumped at the opportunity to dismiss the senator, who was one of the few Republicans to support the President's stimulus package, as a traitor and political hypocrite. The conservative blogosphere, meanwhile, has gone predictably wild with the news. Michael Steele, whose reputation for hyperbole precedes him, jumped at the chance to condemn Specter for betraying the party, going so far as to question how his mother raised the 79 year old. In a (slightly) more rational editorial, Fox News contributor Peter Roff minimized the significance of Specter's new affiliation in a piece entitled "Harry Reid's Headache Now."

Arlen Specter's decision makes for a sexy story if it is framed as a triumphant success for the Democrats or a bitter betrayal for the Republicans. However, both of these versions belie the fact that in all likelihood the Pennsylvania senator based his decision on dry, boring electoral politics. Specter has not attempted to obscure the pragmatic reasoning behind his late in life transition. Pennsylvania is becoming increasingly Democratic, and leaving the Republican Party is a necessary step if Specter wants to hang on to his seat. Although he did state that the change was inspired by the growing gulf between his principles and the ideology of GOP, it is evident that Arlen Specter based his "shocking" decision, at least in part, on what the Daily Show identified as the “I still want to be a senator” principle.

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Changeling
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Blue Steele

Michael Steele’s short but tumultuous tenure as chairman of the Republican Party has inspired ardent and enthusiastic coverage from pundits, journalists and bloggers alike. While it is strange for a party head to attract very much attention from the public or the media, it is likely that the currently rudderless Republican Party is looking for leadership in strange places. Although the function of the party head is largely symbolic, Steele's position as the first black Republican chairman does make him stand out from his predecessors. However, the tone of Steele's coverage has been far from positive. The GOP chairman has quickly established himself as a faux pas machine on par with Joe Biden, and the American media appears to be more than happy to monitor Steele’s every word in the hopes of catching an embarrassing slip up.

Steele has made the job incredibly easy for his critics. His gaffes are numerous, but the most shocking highlights include “sending slum love” to Bobby Jindal (in a reference to Slumdog Millionaire and Jindal’s Indian heritage) and repeatedly referencing hip-hop culture in a misguided attempt to reach out to young African Americans. It is fairly ludicrous that Steele apparently believes that the GOP can increase its meager share of the black vote by using outdated slang like "bling bling." Steele's hip-hop posturing has predictably drawn mockery from various members of the media, most notably inspiring Stephen Colbert to challenge the 50 year-old chairman to a rap battle.

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Steele’s blunders go beyond his open use of profanity and slang; he openly contradicted the beliefs of many influential party leaders by announcing that he did not support a federal amendment to ban gay marriage. Furthermore, Steele's highly publicized spat with Rush Limbaugh amounted to nothing short of a Democrat’s dream. The infighting between two of the GOP's most public stars served only to highlight the claims of critics who argue that the Republican Party is being torn apart by warring factions. When Steele eventually made peace with Limbaugh, it was evident that the party’s head could not risk antagonizing a man he had previously derided as little more than an “entertainer.” In a battle of alpha-males for control of the GOP, it was evident that Limbaugh came out on top.

Media analysts of all political persuasions have effectively framed Michael Steele as a bumbling failure. While this image is undoubtedly an exaggeration that focuses on only a small portion of Steele’s character (as discussed by Jamieson and Waldman in The Press Effect), Steele's negative image is based almost entirely on his own ridiculous actions and statements. The media may be focusing on Steele's mistakes, but there is no doubt that has made more than his fair share. Although his failure to stay on script could theoretically be perceived as a refreshing alternative to a president who rarely speaks without the aid of a teleprompter, Steele’s verbal missteps demonstrate a disconcerting lack of self-awareness. There is a fine line between "maverick" and "lunatic," and Michael Steele has had difficulty keeping himself on the right side of that division.

While left wing outlets tend to portray Steele as a Bush style Republican who is constantly putting his foot in his mouth, conservative leaning analysts have also criticized the chairman’s many blunders. Several right wingers have condemned Steele for lacking the conservative credentials necessary to lead the Republican Party. Neither image is particularly flattering. It should be noted that Steele is not simply trying to guide his party to a more moderate platform, as his own positions appear to fall all over the political spectrum. He did not shy away from attacking moderate Republicans who supported the president’s stimulus package for straying from the party line. Yet he has paradoxically argued that abortion should be an individual's choice, openly contradicting the GOP's platform.

Steele has only recently managed to give a more positive spin to the negative frame created by the media. At a recent appearance in Baltimore he made a concerted effort to portray himself as an unscripted innovator, while dismissing his detractors as conventional thinkers. The question that remains is whether Steele’s efforts to resell himself to the public as a political trend setter will prove successful, or if his attempts to redefine his image will be too little too late.

It should be noted that Michael Steele does have a very cute dog.

Dreams from My Bapa

Uber-conservative Bobby Jindal was an obvious pick to deliver the GOP response to the president’s Address to Congress. While there were rumors that the Republican wunderkind was on John McCain's short list of possible VP nominees, Jindal is still relatively unknown to Americans outside of his home state of Louisiana. Jindal's speech therefore served to brief viewers on his personal and political narrative, with the governor highlighting many of his achievements in Louisiana. Unfortunately for Jindal,it was the style of his speech - rather than the substance - that dominated the media's response to the Republican response to the president's address.

Jindal's delivery of his party's response gave the 37-year old the opportunity to try out for a leadership role in a party that is desperately lacking in charisma and star power. The speech also exposed the southern governor to the unflinching glare of the national media. While Jindal has remained coy when questioned about his career ambitions, he is undoubtedly aware of the fact that the most significant test of a presidential contender is his/her ability to weather the storm of media attention while projecting a "presidential" aura. Unfortunately for Jindal, his almost childlike delivery during his speech exposed the governor's stylistic shortcomings.

Jindal's weaknesses are theoretically fixable, however. The Catholic convert is young, but he has racked up an impressive resume in his relatively short career. It is therefore conceivable that Republican strategists might hone Jindal's delivery to tone down his folksy style. The media may have been too quick to dismiss Jindal entirely. When an MSNBC anchor was caught muttering "Oh, God..." as Jindal approached the podium to give his party's response, it became clear that the left leaning members of the media were already preparing to be unimpressed. Following the speech, liberal bloggers almost immediately blasted the governor's performance by drawing an unfavorable comparison between the governor and 30 Rock's Kenneth the Page. In an entertaining twist, Kenneth the Page himself took to the airwaves to address claims that the Louisiana governor had swiped his style.



Jindal has managed to survive a series of bruising political missteps involving legislative pay raises and broken campaign promises that embittered many Louisiana voters. His aggressive posturing against political corruption (like Sarah Palin, he too has sought to portray himself as a reformer) has netted him approval ratings in Louisiana topping out at 77%, despite these hiccups. The widespread mockery of his speech and mannerisms, however, may have inflicted more lasting damage than any political scandal.

In his response to President Obama’s address, Jindal emphasized his party’s commitment to small government and fiscal responsibility, arguing that Obama’s stimulus package will “grow the government, increase our taxes down the line and saddle future generations with debt…” The speech was smartly worded in that it avoided attacking the popular president, and instead focused the party’s criticism on overspending. Jindal has apparently decided to match his talk with action; he recently attracted attention by refusing millions of dollars in unemployment assistance allotted for the state of Louisiana in Obama's stimulus plan. However, the fact that Jindal's funny accent made the most impact in the media does not bode well for his future as a policy maker.

Bobby Jindal began his speech by remarking on the historical significance of Barack Obama’s first address to Congress. Jindal did not hesitate to add, however, that he too is the child of an immigrant father who came to this country to achieve the American dream. Whether Bobby Jindal’s personal narrative becomes as entrenched in the American consciousness as Barack Obama’s remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that the comedic possibilities for a Bobby Jindal cameo on 30 Rock are endless.

UPDATE: This probably isn't the sort of press Jindal was hoping for. Turns out his Katrina anecdote (about the dangers of over regulation) was a fairly blatant exaggeration. Unsuprisingly, conservative media outlets have not chosen to run with this story, while left leaning analysts have given the story close attention.