Conservative columnist John Leo had a piece on Thomas Frank's book, \What's the Matter With Kansas?,"" Aug. 30 on the Web site www.townhall.com. I cut it out and showed it to a visiting scientist from South America to demonstrate the dynamics of the election. We both agreed it would be a shame if Leo were accurate in his assessment.
Leo commented to the effect of ""Democrats don't get it."" He said that although voters recognized the Democrats had better policies, they did not vote based on those policies.
The disconnect Nick Barbash discussed in his column ""Kansans vs. Kansas"" [Dec. 2, 2004] isn't there because what has swayed/persuaded the former moderate Republican Middle-American voters is not policy but perceived hostility to their lifestyle. Policy issues have not entered into the mix.
They feel that, among others, the elite, the Democrats and John Kerry have sold them down the river and hate their kids. That's why they send them to private religious school so they can learn ""proper values.""
This matches what I observe from my past attendance at a Bible-based conservative church. Bush is always described as having ""good character,"" which means that some of my conservative acquaintances would have voted for him even if America's economy was Third World. This is because Bush represents their perceived ""values."" To paraphrase what the president has stated, ""Jesus says it all.""
Now, when I went to college, I thought values were all about which beer to buy. Shows what I know.
The trouble stems from the evangelical pushing of biblical ""truth"" versus moral relativism and the systematic dismantling of the separation between church and state. It isn't the democratization of the Middle East (excluding Israel) that these folks want, it is the theocratization of America. We're back to the crusades, and I don't mean a reconquering of the Holy Land. I mean the reestablishment of old-fashioned American religion.
Consider that Alabama voters rejected a referendum to remove racist language from their state Constitution Nov. 2. Consider the inclusion of ""creationism"" in the educational scheme of Wisconsin hinterlands. Consider the rejection of bipartisanship in the US House of Representatives, where Democrats can no longer bring bills to the floor for vote. The brown shirts are knock, knock, knocking on Heaven's door.
The rejection of plural policy voice in the second term of the Bush administration is the last straw before the fall. One might argue that if Jesus has a direct line to inform the U.S. president of the proper policy decisions, why confer with allies and associates? No reason!
I've decided to diversify my spiritual portfolio and attend a Mennonite church, which has a clearly stated theology of church-state separation. Alas, my conservative church stock took a big hit, what with the 100,000 civilians dead in Iraq and the shooting in the back of (dark-skinned) Palestinian Jesus. Although a Bible passage states, ""give to Caesar what is owed to Caesar and to God what is owed to God,"" and although the battles in America will be in the physical realm of politics, the issues are really those of spiritual ""values"" and the realm in which they are implemented.
