It took me months to arrive at this. When caucuses came through I had no preferences. Had I voted for Clinton then, I would rue it today
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Because this is the way Republicans have been using these issues for the past, I don't know, 12 election cycles or so? Divide people along pro-choice/anti-choice lines, and rally them to the polls to vote their hate. Instigating a Culture War around these two issues has proven to be a winning strategy for them since Reagan's days. My use of the word is to underscore that these two issues have been getting used, by Republicans mostly, to get out the hate vote. And I think, given the results of the 2004 elections, that it has been working well for them.
And here's the thing - really when all is said and done, if it weren't for this generation of, yes, a "kulturkampf" by the Republicans for political ends, I don't think that abortion rights would be nearly as endangered as they are right now, and I don't think nearly as many Americans would be worrying about micromanaging the lives of same sex couples as are. It is precisely because the Republicans have been using these issues as a political football that the battles are having to be refought and refought with every federal election.
Abortion and gay rights should be givens in this day and age; the reason they aren't has everything to do with Republican political strategy. That the term owes its current usage to Pat Buchanan is both unfortunate, and also very telling insofar as it is meant to create a cultural divide that would cause half the working class to vote against their own best interests by voting republican.
If you imagine that I am trivializing either issue by this term, you imagine incorrectly. But I am pointing out that both Hillary and Obama are on the correct side concerning these issues. If there is a term you think better describes the phenomenon by all means, do share - but bear in mind that I think "wedge issue" is insufficiently visceral.
Now given where you are, and given where I am, and given that you seem to have your crossbow pointed at me, I will tell you that if you back its tension off just a wee bit, it should his South Dakota - which richly deserves it - square on.
Ah, good. Ohay- that explanation actually does fulfill my last request. But coming on the heels of the Amanda Marcotte brouhaha this past week, your timing for usage of that phrase with those two issues was unfortunate, to say the least.
A beloved friend told me recently that she was going to be what she dreaded being most in this election: a one-issue voter. She dislikes both surviving Dem potentials, like me prefers Hillary and mistrusts Obama, bit she and I both found ourselves on the line together: we're voting on the choice issue, and that means the Dem candidate.
I wish I had Edwards to vote for also, but I don't. I hate our primary system - it is less an honest poll than a war of attrition.
Hillary's forfeited my trust on quite a few things, but I still consider her less deleterious to my agenda than McCain, and that's what drives my vote.
I'm actually wishin I had ELIZABETH Edwards to vote for. She just floors me.
Or Barbara Boxer. Now there's a woman I've worked with and trust, about 95% of the time. I'm not naive enough to trust any politician all the time, but that's the anture of power.
And here's the thing - really when all is said and done, if it weren't for this generation of, yes, a "kulturkampf" by the Republicans for political ends, I don't think that abortion rights would be nearly as endangered as they are right now, and I don't think nearly as many Americans would be worrying about micromanaging the lives of same sex couples as are. It is precisely because the Republicans have been using these issues as a political football that the battles are having to be refought and refought with every federal election.
Abortion and gay rights should be givens in this day and age; the reason they aren't has everything to do with Republican political strategy. That the term owes its current usage to Pat Buchanan is both unfortunate, and also very telling insofar as it is meant to create a cultural divide that would cause half the working class to vote against their own best interests by voting republican.
If you imagine that I am trivializing either issue by this term, you imagine incorrectly. But I am pointing out that both Hillary and Obama are on the correct side concerning these issues. If there is a term you think better describes the phenomenon by all means, do share - but bear in mind that I think "wedge issue" is insufficiently visceral.
Now given where you are, and given where I am, and given that you seem to have your crossbow pointed at me, I will tell you that if you back its tension off just a wee bit, it should his South Dakota - which richly deserves it - square on.
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A beloved friend told me recently that she was going to be what she dreaded being most in this election: a one-issue voter. She dislikes both surviving Dem potentials, like me prefers Hillary and mistrusts Obama, bit she and I both found ourselves on the line together: we're voting on the choice issue, and that means the Dem candidate.
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Hillary's forfeited my trust on quite a few things, but I still consider her less deleterious to my agenda than McCain, and that's what drives my vote.
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Or Barbara Boxer. Now there's a woman I've worked with and trust, about 95% of the time. I'm not naive enough to trust any politician all the time, but that's the anture of power.
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