tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9450543.post112467507521918181..comments2023-10-31T10:50:08.358-04:00Comments on Bulworth: What I'm ReadingBulworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506195561153519897noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9450543.post-1125088887047721972005-08-26T16:41:00.000-04:002005-08-26T16:41:00.000-04:00I have to disagree on this errant folly of Democra...I have to disagree on this errant folly of Democrats needing to scoop up "religious and rural voters." This might have been attainable back in 92 and 96 for Clinton, but things have changed. The era of Republican Lite is over.<BR/><BR/>The rightward lurch of the media, the evangelicization of rural voters has made their connection to the GOP as unbreakable as the Democrat-African-American link.<BR/><BR/>At this point, for better or worse, the Dem party would be incapable of appealing to these voters. These two groups have been radicalized by their fear of what modern society and culture is becoming. <BR/><BR/>They have a fundamentalist religious litmus test that a born-again and a Catholic have failed. You can't just have a conservative religious faith, you need to be dedicated to prosleytizing via government policy.<BR/><BR/>They have a hatred litmus test that no Democrat can come close to meeting (pro-death penalty, anti-immigration, anti-gay, anti-civil rights, anti-evolution, anti-environment, anti-education).<BR/><BR/>Any national Dem that tries to coopt these voters by selling their political souls on these issues will do more to depress Dem turnout than any Kenneth Blackwell black-on-black voting crime.<BR/><BR/>The Dems are still paying for their pro-civil rights and pro-liberty stands. LBJ knew this, and knew it was the right thing to do. He was right.<BR/><BR/>It would be more productive for the Dems to focus on appealing to all voters on national security and economics grounds. As far as addressing values issues, the Dems should leave all that alone until they figure out how to turn them into wedge issues that work for Dems and hurt Republicans.The Rogue Progressivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09707830911134111769noreply@blogger.com