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StreetProphets September 21, 2007 / David Domke
Rudy and Fred: Felix and Oscar
Every day comes some new blunder by Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson. Here's Rudy in the funniest "want to get away" moment of the campaign today (be sure to scroll down to play the video). Can you blame his wife for keeping tabs on the guy? At least he didn't divorce her, which would have trumped his painfully-public dumping of Donna Hanover (or wife #2 as she's known to many). Maybe Rudy was just jet-lagged from his trip to London, where he boasted: "I'm probably one of the four or five best known Americans in the world." But Rudy's going to have to work harder if he wants to keep pace with Uncle Fred. more
StreetProphets September 12, 2007 / David Domke
“New Coke” Fred
“Fred Thompson is hardly winning rave reviews for his first week in the presidential race. Criticism of Uncle Fred coming from pundits and journalists, particularly left-leaning ones, is no surprise. But when George Will takes you down, that's not a good sign for an aspiring GOP presidential candidate. And George Will, like Tony Soprano, knows how to take someone down.” more
StreetProphets September 7, 2007 / David Domke
Presidential Religiosity, Race, and Gender
“The Pew Research Center released a study on religion and politics yesterday, and in coming days I will be bringing several pieces here for conversation. Here's a starting point: One of the more consistent findings in studies of U.S. public opinion is that American adults want a president to hold religious beliefs. As predictable in outcome as the swallows returning to Capistrano, the Pew study contained this question and result: The vast majority (69%) of Americans agree [either "completely agree" or "mostly agree"] that it is important for a president to have strong religious beliefs.” more
StreetProphets August 22, 2007 / David Domke
Romney: No “sanctuary” for the stranger
“Everybody has the social and political issues that matter most to them. For some it's health care, for others it's abortion and gay rights. For others it's jobs, jobs, jobs. Increasingly for me it's immigration. How U.S. political candidates talk about immigration and immigrants is a strong test of their values. That's why I am greatly troubled—that's academic language for flat-out angry—by Mitt Romney's words in recent weeks.” more
StreetProphets August 17, 2007 / David Domke
The New Man from Hope
“While Fred Thompson fiddles his time away—giving loads of ammunition to the "he's lazy" narrative—conservative Christians have begun to consider a New Man. And look out Uncle Fred, but someone else is getting Reagan props: Mike Huckabee. What do you know, Huckabee came in second with 18% of votes in the straw poll last Saturday among the Iowa GOP. When you do the dollars spent in Iowa-to-votes won calculation, Huckabee paid roughly $58 for each vote, about 10 times less than top vote-getter Mitt Romney. Uncle Fred? He took a pass on the competition, and came in with 1% of the vote. With Huckabee on the rise, things suddenly get interesting for the Religious Right.” more
StreetProphets August 9, 2007 / Kevin Coe
Republicans strike back
“It’s happening. After years and years of America moving toward an increasingly overt and sinister (not to mention unconstitutional) religious test for public office, two major presidential candidates are striking back. Who knew it would be two GOP candidates leading the way?” more
StreetProphets July 22, 2007 / David Domke
Just Get Over It? No, Rudy.
“How many times have people in power and privilege said Just Get Over It or some close variant in response to grievances raised by the less powerful? It's the ultimate exercise of authority by a member of a majority group: to choose to ignore or minimize the concerns of minorities, however such individuals might be defined. Just Get Over It is an act of arrogance, manifests an indifference to other humans, and is a conscious abuse of power. No presidential candidate has said Just Get Over It more than Rudy Giuliani.” more
RealClearPolitics July 20, 2007 / David Domke
Has the Religious Right Found Its Man in Thompson?
“Every Republican presidential candidate over the past two decades has invoked the legacy of Reagan—characterized by optimism, love of nation, geniality, and a television-friendly persona. But Thompson is the first GOP candidate to be consistently talked about as Reaganesque.” more
StreetProphets July 17, 2007 / David Domke
Thompson Goes a-courting
“Fred Thompson is working hard to consolidate the support of leading religious conservatives. For some inexplicable reason they aren't satisfied with Giuliani, Romney, or McCain. And they don't think Huckabee or Brownback are electable. But Uncle Fred…they think he can win. And he's doing his best to woo them. He's going to need them, because the American public just threw under the bus the entire GOP presidential field: An AP/IPSOS poll (a highly reputable survey) found that "None of the above" is the most-preferred Republican presidential choice at 23%.” more
StreetProphets July 14, 2007 / David Domke
Rooting for McCain
<“I'm rooting for John McCain. Now hold on. Hear me out. McCain's only hope following his campaign implosion (I'm not linking to any news on this because if you haven't seen anything on it then you need to get out less) is to recapture his "straight talk" mojo, because he has hopelessly lost the conservative base of the Republican Party. It's getting late early in this campaign but it's not closing time yet.” more
RealClearPolitics July 2, 2007 / David Domke
Why and How Rudy Giuliani Can Win Over Evangelicals
“In the 2004 presidential campaign, a Northeastern, blue-state, former Catholic altar boy was unable to comfortably explain his pro-choice position on abortion and his have-it-both-ways approach to same-sex relationships—a difficulty that contributed to his defeat in November...” more
HistoryNewsNetwork July 2, 2007 / Kevin Coe
FREEDOM! LIBERTY! -- How Presidents Exploit Words
“As the 2008 presidential campaign continues its long crescendo, we can expect to hear a lot of talk about freedom and liberty. After all, the candidates are trying to sound presidential.” more
StreetProphets July 1, 2007 / Kevin Coe
Wisdom to Know the Difference
“As part of the Blog Against Theocracy, I offer some good news and bad news. The good news is that, strictly speaking, Americans are not yet living in a theocracy. The bad news is that for the past six years we’ve been moving in that direction.” more
StreetProphets June 24, 2007 / David Domke
Obama Unplugged
“I've been watching the Democratic Party's presidential candidates to see if any would say that religious faith in America has been "hijacked" by religious conservatives. It's a potent word, laden with assumptions about motives and imagery of terrorism. As a result, it's certain to raise the ire of those on the right. Yet it also may not sit well with some on the center or left who strongly share the sentiment—but nonetheless may not want a like-minded candidate to use it. Yesterday, Barack Obama used it in a speech at the United Church of Christ's celebration of the organization's golden anniversary.” more
StreetProphets June 21, 2007 / David Domke
Courage or Calculation?: Stem Cells
“You know that George Bush yesterday vetoed a bill that would have expanded government funding of research on stem cells from embryos. It's his third veto in 6.5 years of office. As a point of comparison, Ronald Reagan issued 78 vetoes in 8 years, GHW Bush issued 44 in 4 years, and Bill Clinton issued 37 in 8 years. Bush the son might be the Decider but he's not the Vetoer. Three vetoes so far, and two of them have been to stop stem cell research—a matter that is widely desired by American public opinion. So, how to read this? A pander to the GOP base? A principled decision? Let's consider.” more
StreetProphets June 19, 2007 / David Domke
The Genesis Covenant
“The planet. The environment. Creation. Mother Earth. It goes by a number of names, depending on one’s worldview.
In the political arena, how we think about its future is what's known as a realigning issue. That is, current alliances might be busted apart and new ones built. That's why the Southern Baptist Convention issued a resolution last week questioning the human role in global warming and the emerging view of the global poor as the most likely to suffer. It was a bright signal to conservative evangelicals: don't stray. It's too late, though.” more
Streetprophets June 12, 2007 / David Domke
The Rudy Strategy
“In the 2004 presidential campaign, a Northeastern, blue-state, former Catholic altar boy was unable to comfortably explain his pro-choice position on abortion—a difficulty that contributed to his defeat in November. Today a Northeastern, blue-state, former Catholic school boy running for president is struggling to comfortably explain his pro-choice position on abortion. I’m expecting a very different outcome in 2008.” more
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