This insightful article’s main premise is that values issue, so loved by the right wing, may not appeal to main stream voters. An example of Republican’s hypocrisy about values is Bill O’Reilly’s discussion of the pregnancy of Brittney Spears 16-year old sister, blaming her parents for it, calling them “pin heads.” But in his defense of Palin’s pregnant 17-year old daughter, O’Reilly accused the media of being biased and sexist. Indeed, neo cons everywhere rose up in righteous indignation saying media have no business even discussing Palin’s 17-year old daughter. Is that why they chose Labor Day to make the pregnancy issue public—a slow, no-viewers, non-news day—trying to sneak it through hoping no one noticed?

To me, the most important part is the very last--and I wondered if the article would bring it up. The fact is that the GOP base is shrinking. Democratic registration is growing, and independents are growing even faster. Bush barely squeezed into office by mobilizing the red-meat right--and then only with electoral cheating both times, and the illegal intervention of the Supreme Court the first time. With shifts in registration, his group will no longer be enough. McCain will either have to rely on massive electoral fraud--something I would not rule out. Or he will have to reach these swing voters. Those are his only options. If opinion polls are right (always questionable IMHO), they are no longer focused on cultural values--but ... More »

The author forgets that the Republicans do have a program beyond attacking elitists. However attacking elitists is great fun and the Democrats really are hypocrites when they pretend to be friends of the common man who in truth they don't respect. Generally, anyone who went to Harvard or Yale, Bush perhaps excepted, is an elitist.

This opinion piece has some journalistic merit. The problem is that the biases of the author distort his attempt at analysis. More women than men are pro-life so the Republican ticket has a good chance of increasing its share of the votes of women. The author neglects to point out that the two Democratic candidates are far out of line with American opinion on the issue, taking stands on partial birth abortion and killing of children born in botched abortions that are favored by less than a third of Americans. The article would have had balance if he had noted how out of touch Obama and Biden are on the abortion issue.