The usual way the media covers such press conferences is to do 10 seconds on the point the Republican is trying to make and then give 4 Democrats 30 seconds each to rebut the points the Republican was trying to make.
How many times does a Republican office holder have to try calling a press conference only to see the media coverage result in a well designed attack on the Republican position. It is not hard to see the resulting media coverage is counter productive to the Republican cause.
I am amazed at the power of the media to convince Republicans that if their elected officials only used the media to tell their side of the story the media would cover it fairly.
So true! Same with protests where a handful of leftist loons get tons of coverage but a march of 75,000 pro-life activists is barely afforded a blip.
Avoidance of press conferences is only one aspect of giving the appearance of lukewarm-ness. Certainly the media isn't fair. I believe there are ways to show a united front and send a message without falling to the gutter tactics of the RATS. Being invisible doesn't help anybody either.
Where was the punishment for Sandy Bergers burglering, for instance? Where was the republican disgust and condemnation?
Post-election (realty) BUMP!