Is the GOP Congress Telegenic Enough?

The Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis makes a great point that helps to explain a frustration of mine:

With the 24-hour news cycle, twitter, etc., might we be arriving at a time when even our congressional leaders need to be eloquent and telegenic? When counting votes and cajoling Members was the primary job description, men like Sam Rayburn, a Tip O’Neil, and LBJ excelled.

But the carrots and sticks they wielded in the House and senate have largely disappeared, and more and more, the job of a congressional leader has become a communications/public relations/management position. How can an inside political player compete with a polished president in the modern era?

Should today’s congressional leaders better reflect the times?

Since the election loss, I’ve become even more sensitive to how our side comes off in public, especially on hostile, left-leaning cable news networks like CNN and MSNBC. What appeared acceptable before The Great Shellacking of 2012, just doesn’t anymore. One way you win the culture wars on issues such as taxes, spending, immigration, and the like, is, at least in part, through the presentation of a smart, articulate and attractive arguments. Or, do the exact opposite of what this guy did.

The Democrats figured this out during their wilderness years in the early part of the last decade and in response did some serious work to solve their communication and messaging skills. And it worked. Of course, it helps that they have 99.8% of the media on their side. But that doesn’t mean our side can’t learn to beat them at their own corrupt game. 

Follow  John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC