VIDEO: TMZ The New CNN? Harvey Levin Wants To Create Greater Awareness of Politicians

Politician Paparazzi? TMZ to turn its lens on Capitol Hill.

I think TMZ and Harvey Levin might be on to something here.

"We can show a lot of people who never look at political stories the personalities of Washington, D.C. And there are personalities and once they get invested in the people, I think they're going to start caring what those people are saying," Levin said today on CNN.



In my criticism last month of Bobby Jindal's weak performance in his response to Obama's "State of the Union" address, I discussed the modern-day fusion of entertainment and politics.

We live in the era of Bush Derangement Syndrome and Obamamania.

Like it or not, we do live in the "Dot-Com" era of sound bites and snapshots. As much as I would like to believe Americans believe in substance over style, the reality is most Americans in today's video-game, Internet culture cannot focus much on substance for more than a few seconds.

It's sad, but it is the truth.

Rightly or wrongly, this summarizes, in part, the success of Barack Obama. Yes, there was a clear media bias, but can you really blame them?

Compare Obama to his former rival John McCain. Take away the message and the substance and what are you left with?

By no means am I supporting Obama or the media or the Radical Power-Grabbing Socialist philosophy of the Commie Liberals in Congress.

However, I am applauding his campaign strategy and his staff and supporters for their use of modern technology as well as using the slobbering media to their political advantage.

However, as Conservatives -- and the Republican Party Leadership -- we must realize the reality of the world in which we live. Americans do respond to style and image. It's a tough pill to swallow, but something we Conservatives need to stomach if we wish to rise to power again.

Last month, John Ziegler pointed out while he was slamming MS-NBC's Norah O'Donell, the line between entertainment and journalism, and between politics and entertainment are becoming less clear each day.

There are, in fact, many people in this country (some of my own friends and family) who "get their news" from shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

And that's scary and yes, most of them are Liberals (no surprise).

It's also worth mentioning, again, that Tina Fey's satire of Sarah Palin became how many Americans perceived the Alaska Governor. Yes, it's wrong, unfortunate and disgusting, but it is the truth.

The Republican party and Conservatives are years behind the world of 21st Century era of information and technology. No, image isn't everything, but as a society we are becoming more image-conscious everyday.

The sooner Republicans learn this lesson, the more hope we have. Perhaps it's a necessary evil -- and we don't have to like it -- but it is reality.

Instead of bashing Liberals and the media and Leftwing blogs for celebrating style over substance, we need to learn we can use the same modern tactics for advancing our own agenda.


I'm not implying TMZ and Levin are going to push a Conservative agenda, but if there is anything they can do to educate more Americans on politics and government, I'm all for it.

We learned through the election of Barack Obama that most Americans have no idea what is going on in Washington and frankly have no clue how our government and society was intended to function.

And if TMZ can to use "entertainment news" to help educate the masses? Go for it!