Divide and Conquer

My op-ed on the 2004 election appears in today's Hartford Courant.

Here are the opening paragraphs:

The election of 2000 is finally over. George W. Bush has won his majority.

The president will tell you that his is a majority of faith: faith in his leadership, faith in his policies and faith in his values. In fact, it is a majority forged from fear: fear of terrorism, fear of uncertainty and, above all, fear of homosexuals.

The president's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, made no secret about his strategy. To win re-election, Bush would have to stoke up his base of religious conservatives and get them so excited and angry that they would turn out in huge numbers. Referendums on same-sex marriage in 11 states - including swing states like Ohio - helped push them to the polls.

For decades, Republicans used coded appeals to race to win voters. Richard Nixon spoke about "law and order," Ronald Reagan bashed "welfare queens" and supporters of President Bush's father raised the specter of Willie Horton. In 2004, the Republican Party has finally gotten beyond race baiting. "Moral values" is the new code. It does not mean morality, for burdening the poor to pamper the rich is hardly moral. It means opposition to homosexuality and secularism. The new slogan of the Republican faithful is simple: We're here, we think you're queer, and we can't get used to it.