Value-added victory

[daa]

As the much-documented negative campaigning worked its marvels, it also managed to convince millions of farmers, factory workers, carpenters, shop clerks and waitresses all over the dreary wasteland of rural red states to vote for Bush - against their own economic interests. It's a remarkable feat, to persuade the poor working class and the struggling lower middle class to vote for tax breaks for billionaires. How to fool them? Simple: by promoting "moral values".


As Bush is on a self-proclaimed mission from God, the Bush armies in the red states just had to transfer from the churches to the polls. Political scientists will spend generations analyzing how a mobilized God-fearing minority managed to take over a major political party, marginalize Republican moderates and capture 51% of the electorate - even while the economy is going down, there's no end in sight for the Iraq disaster, and al-Qaeda is openly acknowledging its long-term strategic goal of bankrupting the US. "Fear" is the unifying theme. Fear of "terrorists" - and fear of gays.

There's a form of a new "civil war" going on in the United States. It's up to the rest of the world and world institutions to give full support to the 50 million-plus American voters - plus the millions of forgotten, invisible faces of America who didn't even bother to vote - who are now engaged against Bush's "jihad". Bush's "jihad" terms are well known. The matter of Ohio has been dealt with. Now it's on to the flattening of Fallujah - and then the bombing of Iran, Syria, the whole hit list. That's exactly what al-Qaeda - and the neo-conservatives - want. That's a jihad our world cannot afford.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FK05Aa03.html