A lovely article by
LA Times' Ron Brownstein (if you haven't seen or read him, he's kinda Howard Fineman with integrity) discusses this polarized country of ours:
In this environment, subtlety isn't likely to be a big winner next year. More likely, the next 11 months will look a lot like the last seven days, with polarization providing the resources and the rationale for unrestrained political warfare that divides the country even further.
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Part of the focus is on Ed Gillespie and the hypocritical/hypercritical GOP attack ads whilst claiming the tone is set by "Democratic presidential candidates engaging in 'political hate speech' against Bush."
But also noted is the successful 527 raising of monies by outside groups as well as Dean's success with same. And why all the money?
The most important backdrop for campaign 2004 is the partisan chasm in attitudes toward President Bush. In polls, more than 90% of Republicans say he's doing a good job. Typically, less than 25% -- sometimes less than 20% -- of Democrats agree. That's the widest partisan gap over a president's performance in the history of modern polling.
This polarization means lots of Americans are passionately committed to reelecting Bush, and a comparable number are equally dedicated to unseating him. What the last few days have demonstrated is that when emotions are this high, the dollars available for political causes are almost endless, despite the new campaign-reform law meant to slow the flow of money into politics.
Batten down the hatches... there's two large well-funded groups of partisans that despise each other's candidate (and we don't even have one yet).
How do we rise above this? And what's the best way for progressives to - gasp - agree?
Here's more:
With so much money available, the two sides are already beginning advertising offensives aimed not at the Democratic primaries but next November's general election. Last Wednesday, MoveOn.org, the online liberal advocacy group, announced it was pouring $2 million into a flight of ads in battleground states such as Ohio and Florida criticizing Bush over his push for billions of dollars to reconstruct Iraq.
Just a day later, the Club for Growth, a leading conservative political action committee, announced it had launched a $100,000 ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire attacking Dean over his call for repealing all of Bush's tax cuts.
Don't bet on this being the last word from either group; MoveOn, now nearing completion of an initial $10-million fundraising drive to buy anti-Bush ads, says the response from its members was so strong it will solicit them again next year to fund comparably sized war chests. The Club for Growth has also proven it has deep pockets, and plenty of other groups on both sides are likely to join the fray over time.
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Remember Bush is a uniter, not a divider. He must be. He's uniting the opposition groups more than anyone since Richard Nixon.