GOPThe GOP presidential campaigns’ attempt to bargain for favorable debate formats is more manna from heaven for the Democrats.

Bargain with big media? Good luck. Presidential candidates come and go, but the media stay.

The GOP may have saved itself from yet another PR debacle when Republican candidates split over whether to sign a letter to TV networks outlining their demands for future debates.

The letter was organized by Ben Carson’s campaign, according to Politico.

In fairness, most of the legitimate GOP candidates—including Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Donald Trump—have said they will not sign the letter.

But the damage is done, and don’t think Democrats won’t use the episode to their advantage during the primaries and/or general election.

If the timing is right, Democrats could lump all the GOP candidates together on this issue to portray them as a bunch of overweening kindergarteners.

Some Democratic analysts and consultants already have articulated what the ad might look or sound like, stemming from Carson’s unrealistic attempt to control the media.

Can’t you hear the V/O for the ad now? “If [XYZ] candidate can’t handle a few tough questions from CNBC panelists, how is he (or she) going to handle Vladimir Putin during a crisis?”

Of course, Cruz, Christie et al. could bellow that they were opposed to the letter and have no problem handling tough questions from the media. But the overall perception is that GOP candidates freak out when they don’t get softball questions during a presidential debate.

Sure, plenty of people loathe the media, both on the left and the right. But in the vast center—where presidential elections are won and lost—complaining about the press is a lose-lose situation.

Demonizing the media betrays the candidates for having thin skin, and that they are more preoccupied with their feelings not being hurt than coming up with solutions that can tackle the country’s problems.

Worse, it’s another example of the GOP producing a negative ad about itself and minting it for Democrats.

Indeed, is there anything the GOP won’t do when it comes to creating ads and other messaging on behalf of the Democrats, free of charge?

First, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy sent a love letter to Democrats when in early October he appeared on Fox News and said that the Benghazi special committee was pretty much set up to torpedo Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Clinton’s camp wasted little time in turning McCarthy’s words into a national TV ad that, in one fell swoop, derailed McCarthy’s hopes of becoming the next House Speaker and changed the narrative regarding the Benghazi committee.

Leave it to Republicans to generate sympathy for Hillary Clinton and, from a PR standpoint, woefully underestimate the competition.

The GOP’s latest phony fight against the media stemming from the CNBC debate holds a few lessons for communicators.

One of the most important takeaways is that if you’re going to rumble with the media make sure it’s on the merits of an issue and you have the data to back up your argument—and not because you simply didn’t like the questions the boss was asked or how the story turned out.

Another lesson is not to use the media to distract people from what should be a compelling message. Otherwise, people understandably might think you don’t have a message worth listening and you prefer beating on the media to offering a product or service that can benefit consumers. Don’t set up a straw man just to knock him down.