Word: partisans
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Republicans' forward motion. Thanks to deft handling of Hurricane Gustav, finessing of the popular-with-the-base/unpopular-with-the-nation President Bush, the crossover appeal of Palin, ample media-bashing and a convention punctuated by chants of "U.S.A.!" and "Drill, baby, drill," Republicans have united around McCain--challenging Democrats with the partisan energy essential to win. The alchemy of mixing a fun-loving but prickly 72-year-old Washington fixture with a sassy fortysomething mother of five whose backstory is part Northern Exposure and part Wizard of Oz obliterated the enthusiasm gap in the media and among voters...
...small town, and a superior human being because she isn't a journalist and has never lived in Washington and likes to watch her kids play hockey. Although Palin praised John McCain in her acceptance speech as a man who puts the good of his country ahead of partisan politics, McCain pretty much proved the opposite with his selection of a running mate whose main asset is her ability to reignite the culture wars. So maybe Governor Palin does represent everything that is good and fine about America, as she herself maintains. But spare us, please, any talk about...
...White women are always a key demographic in close races. Classic swing voters, they tend to be more pragmatic than partisan and usually make up their minds late in the race. The ones who matter most, however, are not necessarily the same in each presidential election. In 1996 they were the "soccer moms" who responded to Bill Clinton's small-bore initiatives and rescued his presidency. The white female vote was crucial to George W. Bush's victory in 2004, a year that was marked by the post-9/11 political emergence of the so-called security mom - a term...
...does not like to disappoint anyone, who is obsessed with finding common ground. That may be a great advantage in a President at this ugly moment in our history - but I would feel more comfortable with Obama if he took an occasional play from John McCain's book of partisan transgressions and gored some Democratic oxen. It would be nice if he, say, challenged the teachers' unions, which didn't support him anyway and whose work rules choke out any chance of creative experimentation in the public-school system. Or if he stood against the atrocious Farm Bill, which spreads...
...first major race of her career - the 1996 campaign for mayor of her hometown, Wasilla - Palin was a far more conventional politician. In fact, according to some who were involved in that fight, Palin was a highly polarizing political figure who brought partisan politics and hot-button social issues like abortion and gun control into a mayoral race that had traditionally been contested like a friendly intramural contest among neighbors...