The Tulsi Strategy

Got to hand it to Tulsi Gabbard, she is scary and smart.

The punditry is yammering on about how her lawsuit against Hilary Clinton can't be won when that is not the point.

Tulsi's goal is the document discovery that will come along with the trial.

When you file a lawsuit, you get a chance to ask for copies of any records, bank statements, writings, phone calls, emails or anything else to make your case.  The same applies if you are being sued.

By filing a lawsuit, Tulsi Gabbard is giving herself the power to review Hilary Clinton's life.  That is her endgame.  She probably already has a target in mind.  And I'll bet she will never agree to settle.

Hilary Clinton is playing a 90s game.  She really thought that Tulsi Gabbard would just outrage and then simmer down after a while.  Nope. Lee Atwater did this kind of garbage in the 80s.  It is not a new play.

What Hilary Clinton doesn't understand is the Information Age.  She is no longer doing battle with one person while supported by her media friends.  Everyone on Earth can weigh into the discussion now.  Her message cannot be predictably chewed into cud by the predictable writers of the major media outlets.  She has to answer to more people now.  There is no more control of the medium, by anyone.  Clinton's reporter pals can't steer the message anymore.  She doesn't see the new reality.

So now Tulsi Gabbard is going to tear Clinton apart slowly over the next few years.  Drip by drip, Clinton's relevance will disappear.  And she can't even see it.

The Frontrunner Curse

Have you noticed that whoever the press puts forward as the presumptive winner of a Presidential primary, loses?

At the start of his Presidential run, Jeb Bush was the anointed candidate.  At least by the press.  And they were wrong.  The same with Hilary Clinton in the 2008 Presidential election.  In this Presidential primary, the media has picked one candidate after another.  And each one failed.  

It almost looks like the coveted place to be when running for President is in the background.  Popular enough to get on the debate stage, smart or lucky enough not to say anything stupid, without a Klan robe in your attic, and you have a much better chance of becoming your party's nominee than any early hoopla will give you.

The media focus on Presidential elections is about ratings.  So rather than choose a multi-faceted, nuanced style of reporting, the mass media covers the leadership and vision competition for our nation like it was a football game.  Up the field! Sacked! Good! Bad!  No critical thinking required.

It would be one thing if this approach gave good results, but it does not.  It does not predict anything well, and certainly does not inform voters.  It leads to an attachment to premature predictions and warped reporting to not look stupid when they turn out to be wrong. 

The football approach to political analysis hurts the Presidential candidates the talking heads are trying to prop up.  As in, they don't win. There could be many reasons for this: declaring a frontrunner too early may just invite tougher vetting in general.  So just announcing a Presidential candidate may invite a scrutiny no one could survive.  Maybe voters just get mad that someone is telling what to do.  It also could get all the other candidates to shoot at one target: the presumptive frontrunner.

When will they realize this? Probably never.  Football games do not reflect Presidential elections, but it takes out the work a reporter has to do.