Labeling Overload in Miami
Michael Cooper reported Monday from Miami, the site of the Republicans Governors Association meeting, where the GOP met to try and regroup after a second straight electoral failure.The story's text box sniggered: "Some wonder if 'Ronald Reagan' is still the right answer to every question."
Besides the standard schadenfreude andliberal slant was an amusing overload of "conservative" labels -25 in all, not counting quoted material, in the 1,150-word story. Measure the density in these first three paragraphs from Miami (emphasis added):
In small meetings at the homes of conservative activists and bigger ones at research groups, in conference calls and on blogs, and at gatherings like the Republican governors' conference that just ended here, the questions have been the same:
Nearly 30 years after Ronald Reagan ushered in a period of conservative ascendancy in American politics, how should the movement re-energize itself? And how can conservatives chart a path back to power after this month's Republican defeats?
Some conservatives want a return to basics, arguing that President Bush abandoned conservative principles by expanding government and driving up spending. Others draw just the opposite conclusion, warning that Republicans have tried to appeal to too narrow a base and that the party must update the focus of conservatism, especially at a time when voters are thinking more about issues like jobs and health care than about abortion and gay rights.
