Democrats often complain about Republicans’ advantage in alternative media (meaning talk radio and blogs) and are making efforts to compete. Bill Clinton says one reason for the left’s unpreparedness has been its dependency on old-media outlets to promote their agenda for them, something conservatives would say they’ve never enjoyed.

[Clinton] said Democrats of his generation tend to be naive about new media realities. There is an expectation among Democrats that establishment old media organizations are de facto allies — and will rebut political accusations and serve as referees on new-media excesses.”We’re all that way, and I think a part of it is we grew up in the ’60s and the press led us against the war and the press led us on civil rights and the press led us on Watergate,” Clinton said. “Those of us of a certain age grew up with this almost unrealistic set of expectations.”Few conservatives would make a similar miscalculation. Many of the first generation of new media platforms, including Limbaugh’s show and Drudge’s Web site, first flourished because of a conviction among conservatives that old media were unfair.All this has given Republicans a comfort and skill at using new media to political advantage that most Democrats have not matched.