BOB GARFIELD: This is On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone. Here is a catchy quote: "The president is whistling two tunes on Social Security, and it's time for him to come clean." If that sounds like partisan rhetoric, well that's exactly what it is. One of last week's talking points, courtesy of the brand new Senate Democratic Communications Center. Still smarting from their big losses in November's election, losses facilitated by the Republicans' sophisticated message machine, Democrats this month opened their first permanent communications war room on the Hill. It operates out of the office of new Senate minority leader Harry Reid, and it's run by longtime Democratic media operative Jim Manley. Jim joins me now from a pay phone at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport. Welcome to the show.

JIM MANLEY: Thank you very much. Delighted to be here.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So are we talking about the same kind of war room that's set up by both sides during the presidential campaigns -- message of the day, opposition research, rapid response, and so on?

JIM MANLEY: Yeah. In that respect, it's entirely similar, but what's unusual about this situation is that it's actually going to be working out of the United States Senate, so we have to, you know, follow the customs and traditions and the decorum of the Senate in operating, but you know, the attempt is to try and reach beyond the Beltway and try and, you know, reach the broader constituency that's in this country.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: What kinds of things will you be taking from the Republican play book?

JIM MANLEY: Well, you know, what we saw in November was a very aggressive use of the internet by the Republican Party and, and different Republican-affiliated organizations. There was an interesting situation in-- South Dakota, for instance, in the race against Senator Daschle, where conservative blogs were very effective in trying to help defeat Senator Daschle. That was a lesson learned by many up on the Hill, and we vowed never to allow that to happen again. So, one of the cutting edge aspects of this operation is an increased use of the internet to work with the blogs and what not.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Here's what strikes me as a central challenge for you guys. Senator Kennedy, in a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, said this:

TED KENNEDY: We cannot become Republican clones. If we do, we will lose again, and deserve to lose. As I have said on other occasions, the last thing our country needs is two Republican parties.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Now Kennedy forthrightly stated what he believes the future of the party should be, but as he suggests, there is a tug of war going on within the party right now, and how can you hone a message if you can't come to a consensus on what it is?

JIM MANLEY: Sure. I probably have to disagree with - a little bit with the premise of your question. In my 13 years on the Hill, I've never seen a caucus that's more united as they are at this point in time.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Would you be willing to concede that part of the problem isn't that you've been old-fashioned in the way that you get out the message but maybe that the message itself has become muddled?

JIM MANLEY: No, I'm not willing to concede that at all. I think every reputable poll we saw after the November election demonstrated that, you know, again - on the core issues - on education -health care - better jobs - stronger economy -the American people inevitably choose the Democrats over the Republicans. We just have to do a better job of getting out the message. I mean what we saw in the last election was a very aggressive operation by the Republican party designed to try and demonize Senator Kerry and his supporters, and Senator Reid has vowed that that's not going to happen again, at least to Senate Democrats.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: And are you ready to go out there and do some demonization yourself?

JIM MANLEY: We're ready to take 'em on wherever and whenever possible.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Okay. Jim Manley, thank you very much.

JIM MANLEY: My pleasure. Thank you.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Jim Manley is staff director of the newly-formed Senate Democratic Communications Center which opened for business this month. Joining me now to throw in some context is Harry Jaffe, national editor for the Washingtonian magazine. Harry, welcome back.

HARRY JAFFE: Glad to be here.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So what do you make of this new effort by the Senate Democratic Caucus?

HARRY JAFFE: Well, I think there's actually an opening here, because the Republicans are not nearly as aggressive as they were in the Trent Lott days, and let's not forget about the fact that this is the greatest deliberative body in the world, and they're so used to being kind of sweet to one another -- my colleague this and my colleague that -- and the Democrats have kind of been working on that principle for the last, you know, many decades, and all of a sudden they're waking up to the fact that the Republicans are no longer so collegial -- and I think it's about time. Whether they can actually get organized and make any headway, we'll have to see, but there's one thing about being in the minority, and that is that you can actually organize around that principle, and the pressure can accrue to the benefit of a single message, and a war room to get that message across I think, is for their part, kind of a major advance.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: But as I asked Manley, do the Democrats have a single message? It seems like they're arguing amongst themselves about the future direction of the party.

HARRY JAFFE: The Democrats' problem is they have nothing positive to say, but they can organize in a defensive way, which they will do around the change in Social Security, and they also will have something to organize around when it comes to the judicial appointments --protecting their rights to filibuster. I think that their problem now, and in the future, is what are they doing offensively.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Given the astoundingly effective media management skills of the Republicans, do you think that the Democratic message machine stands a fighting chance?

HARRY JAFFE: Oh, absolutely, in this case, because let's think about Social Security for a second. On the side of the Democrats here you have the AARP -- no slouch in getting out the message and organizing its members. Plus, I think one of the interesting things that's going to happen in the next session of Congress is that the Republicans are going to start to see fissures in their once impregnable fortress. I think that there are many, many Republicans who are not quite as adamant and secure about the notion of privatizing Social Security as the president is, and I think that it leaves an opportunity for the Democrats to exploit that indecisiveness within the Republican Party. What's surprising to me is that Harry Reid, who everyone thought was, you know, mild-mannered senator from Nevada is actually endeavoring to change the course of how the Democrats in the Senate engage the Republicans. This is - at this particular moment - a very, very shrewd thing to do, because it is the majority party that has so much going for it that might in fact drop the ball -- whatever metaphor you want to use. Look what happened to the Democrats when they had been in the majority for decades and decades. They left an opening for the minority to come in.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Harry, thank you very much.

HARRY JAFFE: Always a pleasure to be with you.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Harry Jaffe is national editor at the Washingtonian magazine.