They were very good about defending the president on the war and foreign policy, tax cuts, and the Plame investigation. They were not as supportive on the bailout last fall.
However, these 3 were rarely on the talk shows. I think Pence appeared a few times, but I can't remember Buyer EVER appearing, and Burton very seldom. Pence and Burton's appearances usually were when they disagreed with Bush about spending.
There is a reason we don't see any Republican senators who could make a good case, and certainly not many who supported Bush. For example, we never see Senator Inhofe or Senator Sessions on the shows, do we? Nope, it's always McCain, Lugar, etc.
The Sunday talk shows control who is on. Unless you watch C-SPAN 24/7, you never know that many of these people put out press releases, hold press conferences, and grant interviews, because they never make it to television, even Fox.
I do fault the RNC for not making commercials to support the President. And After 2006 many of the remaining House and Senate GOP ran for cover. Still, I think it is very hard to get air time and do anything, especially when the media has closed ranks and has their message set.
I still say the best thing Mitt Romney could do for our country is to put together a group to buy one of the networks.
My understanding is the networks usually ask committee heads to appear, so Pence and others were rarely given a chance. I agree with what you said, but I believe the GOP leadership let the base down as much as the Bush White House.
Locally, we hear more from Tom Tancredo here now than we ever did when he was a US Representative. It’s as though the media just found out he lives here and has opinions worth reporting on.
Agreed.
He who books the guests....