Bush "Works the Refs" Over Ranch Clothing Story

A reporter from the Austin Statesman writes this article about the clothing Bush has worn over the years when he is down at his ranch in Texas. It leads to a call from a deputy White House press secretary telling the reporter that Bush was unhappy with the article. (Scroll down for the article.) As a writer at www.talkingpointsmemo.com points out, this is the same George Bush who blew off a briefer who told him that there was indications that bin Laden was determined to attack the United States before September 11, 2001.

This incident is telling for at least two reasons. One is what the writer at Talking Points Memo notes and that is that far from being a nice guy, Bush often comes across as insecure, mean, and arrogant. The other is that this is how the Republicans control the media. They complain when the media does something they don't like. They don't do it because it is going to lead to a correction, they do it so that the reporter who wrote offending story won't do it again, or so that his or her editors won't allow such a story to be written in the future.

Eric Alterman, who wrote What Liberal Media, calls this "working the refs." The term comes from basketball where coaches often complain to referees about calls hoping to get more favorable calls in the future. Why do Republicans do this? Because it works. Over the last 40 years the working press in this country has given increasingly favorable coverage to Republicans because of all the complaining that Republicans do about so-called "liberal bias."

The reason why so many Republicans can do this so effectively is that they really believe that the media shouldn't criticize them. Such Republicans operate from a sense of entitlement when it comes to politics. A sense of entitlement that comes from the belief that they are simply better than other Americans and ought to be in charge of running things. This sense of entitlement allows them to act genuinely outraged when dealing with the media over critical stories.

Most Democrats don't usually have this same sense of entitlement and so it is much harder for them to "work the refs." They have to get over that reluctance. Often liberals, progressives, and Democrats take the attitude that Republicans shouldn't do what they do because it is just not nice. It is the equivalent of stamping your feet in protest. It doesn't work. It makes Democrats look weak.

Now we are not saying that Democrats ought to develop the same sense of entitlement, but what we are saying is that Democratic politicians, consultants, and voters ought to emulate this tactic of Republicans. When the media writes, prints, broadcasts, blogs and you don't like the offending article, make sure that someone knows. Over time it will help restore even-handiness to the media.