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August 31, 2003
Colors
Defection I knew Lee Atwater and watched the development of "wedge politics" flourish from Lee through Ron Kaufman, Charlie Black, Rich Bond, Mary Matalin, and Karl Rove -- with the considerable media help of Roger Ailes and Stuart Stevens. For those not familiar with the theory of "wedge politics," its basic concept is to drive wedges between different political interest groups -- using fear and intimidation as its primary tools. This process drives many people away from the voting process, while motivating the targeted groups with negative tactics and fear. It is easy to scare an electorate who remembers a better -- easier -- time, and then blame the current state of national affairs on: Democrats, Hispanics, Afro-Americans, Muslims, women, gays -- take your pick. The end result is that candidates employing these tactics often win elections, but find themselves in an impossible position to govern as a result of the ill will generated in the electoral process. One need only reflect on the reprehensible and personal attacks employed by the George W. Bush campaign in the 2000 South Carolina primary against Senator John McCain to get a sense of how "wedge politics" can be effectively and viciously employed I respected the fact that Lee admitted before his death that "wedge politics" was one of the most damaging tactics ever developed and apologized for the effects it could have on the American political process.Doc Searls's overview of Michael Cuhady's defection from Bush to Dean. Kelly Blaser's take on it. [permalink | reply | tb ]
Back
The original point of this post was to point out that we have time to type just as much as ever, although now that seems in doubt. Alas. We'll see what happens.
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