Paul Ryan released his...

...new budget plan today in the Wall Street Journal. (You can read the article here; it isn't behind the Journal's paywall.) Also, the Romneys gave an interview recently in which Ann blamed the media, in part, on the public's negative view of her husband during the 2012 campaign.

How are these two related?

First of all, whom do you suppose reads the Wall Street Journal? Democrats? Hardly. Independents? Yeah, some. But the real consumers of the Journal are members of the Republican Party base. And do you think they need to be persuaded that Rep. Ryan's approach is the right one? I doubt it; the Journal's editorial board was one of the most aggressive advocates of Ryan for GOP running mate last summer. No, I'm pretty sure that the Journal's primary audience agrees that roughly 47 percent of the population (excluding their parents, of course) are nothing more than lazy moochers who need to be kicked off the government dole.

As for Ann Romney's beef with the media, I don't recall seeing the former governor of Massachusetts on any TV stations last year other than Fox, until the fall when he needed to reach independent voters.

So, I wonder, why are Republicans always complaining about the "liberal" media when they only talk to newspapers and television stations owned by Rupert Murdoch? Why are they so mystified that they can't reach independents and Democrats? Why didn't Congressman Ryan publish his budget in the New York Times or the Washington Post or USA Today? Announcing his plan through the Journal is just preaching to the choir. And why didn't Romney appear on some of the Sunday shows before Labor Day (when President Obama's team was defining him)? Why didn't he give some interviews to CBS or NBC or ABC? Why did he confine himself to the network that employs people like Sarah Palin?

Is it really any wonder that the Republican Party has such low approval ratings? Why don't they try talking to the rest of the nation? Make their case to us, not just the GOP base. How on earth do Republicans expect to convince us of the wisdom of their policies when they won't even talk to us?