Splintering the Base

As I discussed yesterday, the battle over domestic issues is quickly shaping up as the exact nature of Bush's mandate continues being discussed. Rush Limbaugh's take on the debate is interesting: he sees the focus on gay marriage by the Old Media as an attempt to tar the Republicans as bigots. I think he's right about that, but maintain that it is not just the Old Media who think the election was primarily on "values." Nevertheless, I see an intersection of these forces coming ahead. This Old Media article discusses Bush's apparent lack of a socially-conservative agenda with the clear implication that Bush is cheating his supporters. The opening passage is important and may disappear from the web soon, so I'll quote it here. "Dear rural/exurban Christian conservative voters: Congratulations on your election victory. By going to the polls in unprecedented numbers Tuesday, you overwhelmed an enormous Democratic turnout and returned President Bush to office, along with a number of very conservative senators. Now Bush is preparing to repay your efforts by moving immediately on your highest priorities: a flat tax and privatizing Social Security."

I think that the Old Media are killing two birds with one stone here. On the one hand, they'd like to make 9-11 Democrats and secular Republicans very paranoid about Bush, undercutting his support. On the other hand, they want to feed the perception in other Republican quarters that Bush has a mandate for putting religion into politics, undercutting his support from the religious right. The Democrats may have lost three branches of government, but they still own what they regard as the fourth: the Old Media.

Yes, there will be a power struggle within the GOP between the religionists and the secularists, but Old Media still fully support the nihilistic left. Yesterday, I made the point that Bush will lose secular support by pushing a socially conservative agenda too far. Today, I see that the Old Media, by continuing to blatantly support the nihilistic left, might just keep the coalition together. The Left, as it is today, seethes with emnity against the church-goer and of the man who wants his freedom. The reshaping of American politics has many interesting dynamics indeed!

-- CAV