They think we're corrupting THEM

Bob Burnett looks at “faith voters,” the roughly one third of the electorate who went for Bush despite their economic anxiety or even extreme economic pressure, like being one paycheck away from the edge. These are the people we tried to reach with programs – childcare, health insurance, tax credits. Thomas Frank in Kansas tells us such voters are economic simpletons, blinded by faith to the logic of their own self-interest.

Howard Dean says no:

Dean observed that faith voters typically spend so much time at work that they don't have the opportunity, or the money, to provide their children with adequate supervision. As a result, the parents are obsessed with the notion that television, other kids, or lefty teachers will corrupt their sons and daughters. Driving to and from work faith voters constantly hear conservative commentators rail against the liberal "media elite," whom they accuse of advocating various forms of immorality: drug use, free love, abortion on demand, and so forth. Because they live in this environment of fear, faith voters accept wild accusations as the gospel; for example, that the National Educational Association has an agenda to teach homosexuality as a lifestyle "choice."

…Democrats are too quick to dismiss the behavior of faith voters. He noted that this group truly believes that a liberal Democratic elite is corrupting America. Dean's analysis was that in the last election, faith voters trusted George W. Bush to do the right thing to stem the tide of immorality; they accepted Bush's campaign rhetoric, "The Democrats don't respect you. They don't understand your problems because they are the elite. But I do respect you. ... I'm just a regular guy."

This puts yesterday's Injustice Sunday in Louisville in a fresh light. I don’t think they realistically expect to gut the filibuster this time around. But so what – they still win! Every time these rabid rightwads get together to slander Democrats as Jesus-hating, amoral death-lovers, we lose more ground with one third of the electorate.

We need to be just hammering Republicans on their immorality. Porn empires, ethics sleaze, Gannongate, war profiteering, torture, and carnage are immoral. Installing a male hooker in the White House is a security risk AND it’s immoral. Lies, cheating, and stealing are immoral. Cover-ups are immoral. Slander is immoral. Americans – what are your children learning from these people?

And while we're at it, let's keep after the media for their role in all this.