Swiped this from the Sunday Glob. A little more comforting than the Red-Blue diachotomy, particularly since I think that particular metaphor is false. The US is divided, not primarily by state.
<img src="http://www.rideside.net/~tgl/images/purple-america.png" alt="Purple America" width=450>
Maybe 3% of the popular vote is a "mandate". However, if Bush screws up his second chance by alienating even more voters, then Rove's long sought Republican ruling majority might not materialize.
Of course, I always thought Bush had alienated enough voters the first time around.
I read the Atlantic article (Nov 2004) that was linked on Rideside as well.
At this point, I think Im gonna have to go to the bookstore and read Moore's book 'Bush's brain' so I can learn more.
I can see that Rove is a "tricksy" strategist, but is his vision of America ultimately, as Moore puts it "a dream of a one party America" ?
And isnt it the job of the Democratic party to come up with a strong enough platform that will deflect the so-called smoke and mirrors of Rove, or is it Rove's fault exclusively, as Moore suggests, that the Democratic party is "too weak to compete" because Rove has turned the government into a" vestigial organ"?
Interesting stuff that I don't know the answers to.....
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“When you’re creating your own shit, man, even the sky ain’t the limit.†Miles Davis
The Democratic Party has fielded two weak candidates that Bush has beaten once by a hair, and now by an inch. It's pretty obvious how Rove, "the Architect" in Bush's words, operates. Why the Dems can't figure that out and counter it is beyond me.
I'm currently waffling about whether it's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06brooks.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists">moral values</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/opinion/08herbert.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists">better information</a> or what.
Maybe this time, Bob Shrum and Terry McAuliffe have been thoroughly repudiated. The Dems need new leadership. I don't know enough to say who that might be.
"Bush's Brain" isn't by Michael Moore, I thought, it's by the author of that column you read on Sunday. I could be wrong...
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“When you’re creating your own shit, man, even the sky ain’t the limit.†Miles Davis
Those UofM kids...
<img width=450 src="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/cartlinearlarge.png">