Saturday, December 27, 2003

Quick Takes on Politics

Before we get buried in the blitz of pundit chatter and political head-banging - and with the Republicans already equating patriotism with the support of their party, this next year promises to be ugly - here's a couple of notable articles from last year:

Recall May Help Bush, But State Still a Battleground by Ronald Brownstein Los Angeles Times 10/09/03. Brownstein explains why the California recall vote shows some trends that could help the Republicans in 2004, but the state is still expected to be safely Democratic. He quotes Democratic consultant Chris Lahane, "Unless George W. Bush is going to become pro-choice, pro-gun safety, pro-health care and pro-civil rights, it is going to remain a very difficult state for him to compete in."

God Help the Democrats by John Bunzel Los Angeles Times 09/14/03. This is a conservative take on the religious issues in current politics. Like a lot of the "cultural war" talk, this seems to be more a statement of what conservative Republicans find it pleasant to hear than anything more substantial. Although this will continue to be a theme in the 2004 elections, I'm skeptical that it will be as decisive as Republicans like to imagine. One of the distinctive things about the Christian Right is that, to the extent it's a coherent voting group, they tend to vote on issues rather than on religious evaluations of the candidate.

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