Here's one combo - IDEOBLOG
A preview of 2008
Clinton/Obama vs. McCain/Thune. The Democrats will have to learn to run on ideas, not Bush-bashing. Let's see if they can manage it.
The election, marriage and "values"
The biggest surprise in the election was that, contrary to my prediction, and to what I thought as recently as election night, the most important factor in the Bush victory was not terror, but "moral values," as symbolized by same sex marriage. Here's the WaPo take on the effect in the pivotal Ohio race.
The genius of the Republican campaign was, of course, putting same sex marriage on the ballot in 11 states, including Ohio, then using these initiatives to galvanize social conservatives. Here's the run-down on the initiatives. All 11 won, decisively.
I expect the MSM and Democrat spin that the religious right "hijacked" the country. You wouldn't be hearing a similar spin if Kerry had won with Soros' millions and "rock the vote." If the Democrats are smart, they will realize that everybody showed up at this election, nobody had an opportunity to hijack it, and that the social conservatives deserve to be heard, however much the Democrats' bi-coastal base may despise them.
The courts also need to pay attention to the success of the same sex marriage amendments. Judicial activism on this issue is what provoked the referenda (and therefore indirectly decided this election). Aside from politics, I have argued on policy grounds (draft here) that there are important advantages in letting the issue be determined through state-by-state evolution.
There is support for this approach in Lawrence v. Texas, 123 S. Ct. 2472, 2480 (2003), where the Court cited an “emerging awareness” of acceptance of homosexual conduct in support of its decision to strike down the Texas sodomy law. If logic and consistency still move the Court, it ought to take account of these referenda in deciding the constitutionality of the same sex marriage ban.
The disturbing aspect of the state referenda is that seven of the 11 (Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah) ban not only same sex marriage but, in varying language, marriage-type relationships, which might include domestic partnerships or civil unions, that have the attributes of marriage. Virginia previously had enacted a similar ban. These provisions are questionable on policy grounds because they will inhibit the evolution of forms of domestic relationships. They also raise significant interpretation and constitutional issues, thereby inviting the courts to get involved.
The main point is that the "values" issue has now moved to the center. Full recognition of same sex marriage is not inevitable. The abortion issue is very much alive. Religion is important. The party and media elite who choose to belittle or ignore these issues that matter to the flyover states, and assume that the Daily Show represents the nation, do so at their peril.
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