ABSTRACT
In June 2007, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made multiple media appearances to try to save the immigration reform bill struggling to stay alive in the U.S. Senate. On ABC’s This Week on June 17, Graham appealed to his Republican colleagues, saying, “This is the best deal we’re ever going to get,” and he went on to warn lawmakers that scuttling the current bill when there was no viable alternative to replace it would merely prolong current immigration and border security problems. At the same time, Graham’s Republican colleague Jim DeMint, South Carolina’s other senator, was taking his message to the press to try to kill the legislation. On June 25, DeMint told reporters, “The longer this bill hangs out there, the more opposition grows. Every day that goes by, more and more senators realize this is not the right immigration bill for America. It cannot be adequately fixed, and it must be stopped.”1 Ultimately, DeMint’s side prevailed as the public, particularly in Republicanleaning states, turned against the bill and the fragile bipartisan coalition supporting it fell apart. The media campaigns of Graham and DeMint illustrate the new reality that has emerged in Congress: media relations have become a key component of the legislative process as individuals and groups in Congress use the media to communicate with the public and with each other to influence policy debates and legislative outcomes. This chapter looks at the interaction between media and Congress and asks who has the upper hand in this relationship.
