Thursday, November 04, 2004

A Mission to Perpetuate Democratic Ideals, Or, How to Combat the Babel of the Cynical Religious Right

In today's (Thursday, 11/04) Cleveland Plain Dealer, Elizabeth Sullivan writes: "The rural poor who put Bush over the top in Ohio on Turesday often voted against their own intersts to elect a man who speaks for them on gays and godly living."

We can either sneer and simmer -- or combat this. I don't think Democrats can out-faith the Right. That's their turf (even though it is true that there are more liberal Christians than conservative, the liberals see their benevolence in acts of kindness rather than condemnation, and the acts of kindness require sacrifice rather than self-righteous judgment. That's not as easy of a compact sell.)

But we can begin now by studying our precincts and seeing who the leaders are and what groups exist.

Voters overlooked jobs, healthcare, a moronic war and voted "moral values." Why? Because one doesn't have to read and analyze anything to base a vote on gay marriage initiatives.

It is, on such a voter's part, an irresponsibile abdication of citizenship.

But it's what we've got.

Starting now, we can imaginatively look at our precincts and see which groups can work in conjunction with the party to bring in only party-partisan experts to inform people about health care and job loss and unfair tax codes. In that way, people will be fortified with substantive criteria upon which to base their vote -- and not irrelevant but enticing faith-based gestures like gay marriage initiatives.

Be educators so that voters will be armed with logic, rather than fear.

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