For the Times ... Maybe
Here in my great state we have two ballot initiatives up for a vote. The first would make medicinal use of marijuana legal. The second would broaden the scope of permissible stem cell research. According to weekend polls, both look to pass handily.
The (apparent) success of these initiatives combined with the cool reception Governor Palin is receiving on the trail (fully half of surveyed voters said her presence on the ticket made them less likely to vote for McCain)and the (again apparent)failure of attacks on Sen. Oabama based on Bill Ayers and Rev Wright suggest that maybe a new wind is blowing.
No, all things will not be peace, love, and cool beer at a reasonable price. But I think we may be seeing the end of the so called Culture Wars, the time when issues of racial, sexual and gender identity, abortion, guns, stem cells and drugs played a central role in political life. For me, the height of the culture wars occurred at the 1992 GOP convention in Houston. There, Pat Buchannan and others railed against foreign, seditious and immoral influences in our culture in ways that would make Governor Palin look like a Weatherman.* Homosexuals, evolutionists, pro choicers and unwed mothers all got a piece of the vitriol. No behaviour, however personal and intimate was safe from potential regulation.
Now, most of these issues barely got a whisper in this campaign. In part, that may be due to the almost historic failure of the Bush Presidency combined with the economic crisis which dominated at least the last weeks of this campaign. That said, a lot of the culture warriors met their end before the election began (Rick Santorum comes to mind) in off year elections and any analysis of the GOP's election efforts has to consider the absence of any discernible influence from the Christian Right.
This suggests that the death of the Culture War may have deeper roots than this one election. Maybe Americans have grown tired of the Culture War and that maybe our national sights are being set on less parochial goals. Maybe Americans have realized the limits and toxicity of this internecine little battle. Maybe some of the Warriors have just had a change of heart. Maybe Americans are turning their sights to more concrete goals, like economic justice, simple competence, and realistic foreign policy.
These are all maybes, but personally, I'll take any of them and call it a win.
* Of course, the Culture Wars really began with the Goldwater movement and Richard Nixon's tactic of turning the "counterculture" into an enemy. If you are interested, I suggest Rick Pearlsteins's Nixonland.
The (apparent) success of these initiatives combined with the cool reception Governor Palin is receiving on the trail (fully half of surveyed voters said her presence on the ticket made them less likely to vote for McCain)and the (again apparent)failure of attacks on Sen. Oabama based on Bill Ayers and Rev Wright suggest that maybe a new wind is blowing.
No, all things will not be peace, love, and cool beer at a reasonable price. But I think we may be seeing the end of the so called Culture Wars, the time when issues of racial, sexual and gender identity, abortion, guns, stem cells and drugs played a central role in political life. For me, the height of the culture wars occurred at the 1992 GOP convention in Houston. There, Pat Buchannan and others railed against foreign, seditious and immoral influences in our culture in ways that would make Governor Palin look like a Weatherman.* Homosexuals, evolutionists, pro choicers and unwed mothers all got a piece of the vitriol. No behaviour, however personal and intimate was safe from potential regulation.
Now, most of these issues barely got a whisper in this campaign. In part, that may be due to the almost historic failure of the Bush Presidency combined with the economic crisis which dominated at least the last weeks of this campaign. That said, a lot of the culture warriors met their end before the election began (Rick Santorum comes to mind) in off year elections and any analysis of the GOP's election efforts has to consider the absence of any discernible influence from the Christian Right.
This suggests that the death of the Culture War may have deeper roots than this one election. Maybe Americans have grown tired of the Culture War and that maybe our national sights are being set on less parochial goals. Maybe Americans have realized the limits and toxicity of this internecine little battle. Maybe some of the Warriors have just had a change of heart. Maybe Americans are turning their sights to more concrete goals, like economic justice, simple competence, and realistic foreign policy.
These are all maybes, but personally, I'll take any of them and call it a win.
* Of course, the Culture Wars really began with the Goldwater movement and Richard Nixon's tactic of turning the "counterculture" into an enemy. If you are interested, I suggest Rick Pearlsteins's Nixonland.
posted by Jack Reed at 10:27 AM
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