-Caveat Lector-
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
ctrl
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
--- Begin Message ---
-Caveat Lector-
Bush's Big Priority: Energize Conservative Christian Base
Unusual Strategy Plays Down Importance of Swing
Vote As Demographics Shift A Coordinator in Each Church
By JACKIE CALMES and JOHN HARWOOD Staff Reporters of
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL August 30, 2004
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109382546485804152,00.html
WEST CHESTER, Ohio -- Frank York's mission for George
W. Bush began in May, registering voters at the
2,200-member Tri-County Baptist Church he attends here.
By June, the 66-year-old campaign volunteer figured he
was getting the congregation covered. So he branched
out, knowing he could find like-minded voters virtually
any place in Cincinnati's exploding suburbs, a magnet
for Christian conservatives. He even took his
registration clipboard to the "Dog Fest," a popular
canine carnival, despite his aversion to dogs.
On Saturday he knocked on doors in a new subdivision
and yesterday, he tucked a few registration forms into
his Bible before heading to church. There he signed up
a half-dozen remaining prospects. So far Mr. York has
registered 604 voters -- and he won't quit until Ohio's
Oct. 2 registration deadline.
"Some friends ask, 'How can you support a
Republican?' " says the 66-year-old former General
Motors Corp. autoworker and longtime union member. "I
say, 'I put moral and Christian values ahead of union
values.' "
In the tight 2004 race, no group is more important to
Mr. Bush than evangelicals and Christian conservatives.
As Republicans gather for their national convention in
New York starting today, these religious conservatives
are at the heart of a Bush campaign that is turning
traditional general-election strategy on its head.
Instead of focusing on undecided swing voters, Bush
advisers are putting top priority on maximizing voter
turnout among conservative constituencies already
disposed to back the president.
Behind the new strategy lies the story of a changing
America, and of a campaign scrambling to keep up.
The nation's face is being reshaped in ways that aren't
helpful to the Bush effort. The Hispanic population is
exploding in size, and Hispanic voters are heavily
Democratic. Other nonwhite ethnic groups are also
growing. If all demographic groups split their votes
this fall as they did in 2000, the Bush team estimates
that Mr. Bush would finish with threemillion fewer
votes than Democratic candidate John Kerry. In 2000,
Mr. Bush lost to Al Gore by 500,000 votes in the
popular vote. The growth in Hispanics largely accounts
for the bigger gap.
Other trends also put bumps in Mr. Bush's road. Younger
voters who grew up in the era of Bill Clinton rather
than Ronald Reagan seem harder for Republicans to
reach. Also, Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg notes
that birth and demographic trends make them the most
diverse generation yet: Just 65% of them are white,
compared to 90% of seniors 65 and older. Early on,
these youngest voters were the most supportive of the
war in Iraq of any age group. Now they are the least.
Among women in 2000, Mr. Bush was 12 points behind Mr.
Gore, but as president he seemed to narrow the gender
gap after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Republicans
spoke hopefully of "security moms." Yet polls show the
gap has widened again. Meanwhile, Democrats are
mounting an unprecedented effort to register unmarried
women -- an estimated 20% of the electorate that tends
to be less educated, less affluent and
Democrat-leaning.
Many Arab-Americans and Muslims, who once seemed an
emerging Republican constituency, are upset over Iraq.
Among senior citizens, Mr. Bush had hoped that with the
new Medicare prescription drug law, he'd more than make
up the four percentage points by which he trailed Mr.
Gore among voters 60 and older. Instead, polls show
roughly half of seniors oppose the law, and a majority
oppose him.
These ar
