The enhanced supreme executive was really more Cheney's baby than Bush.
Good point. Ironic, isn't it, since we all know the VP is part of the legislative, not executive, branch? ;-)
The conventional wisdom that the GOP are "better" in a military crisis has been as thoroughly debunked as the "fiscal conservative" lie by the last eight years but still a lot of people buy in.
I'm not sure the issue is really managing a military crisis. Instead, I think too many people want to hear "We're the U.S. F--- with us and you're dead" when they perceive a threat, and that fits better with Republicans' law-and-order message than with Dems' peaceful coexistence line. It will be interesting to see if Obama chooses to exercise some of those vaunted oratory/leadership skills here, or continues the increasingly macho trajectory of his campaign season rhetoric.
Breaking through the rural/urban divide (or Real American versus Fake American in Palinspeak) is the greatest single challenge to the Dem party today.
Yeah, I agree -- not only because I think it's the right thing to do, but because I think Dem gains will be short-lived unless they do.
These mostly low-info rural voters are embraced by the GOP through their God, Guns, and Anti-Gay rhetoric which, sadly, still finds far too much resonance.
Spud finds a lot of the anti-gun rhetoric on the left to be unneccessarily shrill and divisive.
I don't think either side has a clue how the other lives or thinks. In cities, the gun issue is about street crime, gangs, guns in schools, etc. In rural areas, they're security for people who live a lot farther apart and often don't have much police protection. For some of my students' families, hunting isn't just sport -- it's a way of putting food on the table in tough times.
The God thing is a bit of a puzzlement as the vast majority of Dems like the vast majority of GOPhers are church going Christians...
Dems have been too afraid to talk about values, imo. Maybe I missed it, but I was surprised that "Judge not, lest ye be judged" was not one of the bible quotes cited in the DR's lengthy debate about homosexuality. Seems like it should be possible to deride the politics of right-wing fundamentalism as a Church Lady approach to values -- i.e., as not being about personal responsibility (don't let the GOP own that phrase!), but about finger-pointing. It also seems like it should be possible to make the connections between Dem values and small-town values clearer -- e.g., to talk about what it means to be a good neighbor, about a commitment to community, etc. etc.
The gay rights thing seems to be the deal breaker fer both sides
I think it's a mistake to draw inferences about support for gay rights based on the gay marriage battle. Public opinion on civil unions and gay marriage, for example, is dramatically different. Remember, the American public loved Will and Grace and Brokeback Mountain. It may be too late for this (I'm thinking about the role he plays in his new tv series), but I would have guessed that the gay rights movement could have drummed up huge support for things like adding non-discrimination against gays to the EEO clause just by hiring Eric McCormack for a few tv ads.
Nice chat. Be Well. -- #50 | Posted by dethspud
Back at ya.
