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11/25/2003: "Mining the Extremes for Votes"

It is not the focus of so-called Consevatives to preserve the core values that have made the United States the most successful nation in history. The right wing isn’t focused on the people at large, a more perfect union, broader social justice, the broad means to domestic tranquility, a truly common defense, general welfare, the blessings of liberty, and posterity. If they so consistently come out second-best in supporting the American values encapsulated so well in the Preamble, how can they be seen as the conservators of these values? The answer is that Big-C Conservatives are not really political conservatives. A true conservative would champion the Constitutional principles that are the cornerstone of our democracy, our form of government, and our unique success among nations. Indeed, being the “lukewarm” party for American constitutional values has been a winning vote-mining strategy for Big-C Conservatives. By being the group that is less identified as the champion for a particular constitutional value, they harvest all the voters that are opposed to this value. For example, by being the group that is less identified with race equality, they harvest racists. After Thansgiving let's take a few days to look at why this has been such a lucrative strategy for "conservatives."