Word: wing
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CPAC was launched in 1974 by activists at the American Conservative Union at a time when the Republican Party was still dominated by its moderate wing. CPAC activists helped transform the conservative intellectual movement into a political reality - one of the great organizational achievements of American politics...
...proud as the Swiss are of their direct democracy, though, some have expressed concerns that the system can be abused by right-wing extremists seeking to push through anti-immigrant proposals. Last year, for instance, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) sponsored an initiative to ban the building of minarets on mosques - a proposal opponents decried as anti-Muslim and hateful. The ban was approved by more than 57% of voters, but there's been talk among Muslim groups about challenging it in court. The Swiss parliament can declare an initiative invalid only if it violates international law. This last...
...Many observers saw the exercise as a political ploy - an effort by the conservative government to seduce extreme right-wing voters by fanning nationalist flames ahead of regional elections next month. Other critics said that while discussing French identity isn't objectionable in itself, people used the scores of open debates and the government's online forum to voice opinions that only served to offend public sensibilities. Some have even questioned whether the entire initiative may have backfired, doing more harm to Sarkozy's already tarnished image and undermining his party's chances in the March balloting. Early polls showed...
...Nicolas Dupont-Aignon, a conservative parliamentarian and usually a supporter of right-wing causes, said that the initiative "completely escaped" the government's control. "The government poorly framed this debate from the outset and - for electoral objectives - spoke of national identity rather than national unity," he says. While the media are now filled with fretting by conservatives about the right's chances in the March elections, politicians on the left aren't tempting fate by predicting victory. The left is, however, using the opportunity to bash Sarkozy's government. "What a fiasco: Operation National Identity, which was supposed to raise...
...participating in the town hall meetings made what many considered to be racist or xenophobic comments. For example, a conservative mayor in eastern France argued that the country would be "eaten up" by immigrants who already constitute "10 million (people) we pay to do [expletive]," while a former right-wing minister warned that France risked disappearing "when there are as many minarets as cathedrals." Secretary of State for Family Affairs Nadine Morano also provoked a scandal when she appeared to describe young French Arabs as being unpatriotic and shunning work...