Congress and the parties followed the lead of the executive branch, as did interest groups and a new breed of policy-oriented think tanks during the 1970s. Opinion leadership is now the name of the game in Washington. In short, it allows politicians, parties and political organizations to get their way. Although pandering to the public is not rare, it is far more common for political actors to attempt to change or influence political opinion for policy reasons. Partially as a result of this trend, the political media now focuses primarily on tactics, rather than policy detail.
Pundits are the primary analysts of tactics.
Their reach and influence has grown tremendously in recent years. The breaking point Research shows that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the public's policy preferences are surprisingly stable on most policy issues. It's not easy to change the American people's mind on the merits or drawbacks of a particular policy. Instead of simply offering supporting facts or arguments, political actors attempt to define the debate itself to emphasize a particular set of attitudes. For example, in the debate over campaign finance reform, one side frames the issue as corruption versus reform, and the other as free speech versus restrictions on speech.