Zell, Religion and Regionalism
Time for some cleanup on Zell Miller, before I move on to other political fun. The best way to analyze this speech, I think, is probably to break down the regional impact.
It may well have freaked the Northeast and Pacific Coast out, particularly the highbrow leftist intellectual base that seems to hold the balance of political power. They certainly wouldn’t recognize what Michael Novak rightfully described Tuesday as a literary form: I’m a Methodist, but I’ve been to a few Southern Baptist services over the years, and Brother Zell was preaching from the pulpit that night at Madison Square Garden.
Bigwig over at Silflay Hraka did the Southern deconstruction last Thursday, and I heartily recommend it. But let’s take his analysis one step further. That speech was meant to lock up VA, NC, TN, AR and the Southern-leaning parts of WV, yes, and take care of the last remaining Southern Democrats for Bush. But furthermore, I read it pretty quickly as a play also to socially-conservative, pro-military Midwestern Democrats who hew to that party because of union loyalty.
These folks stepped out of their party-affiliation box 20 years ago, and the Republican party could really slam-dunk this election with a solid conversion rate on them this year. One of Robert Musil’s readers tracked with me on this, and followed up on Bush’s campaign schedule in the immediate aftermath of the convention:
- Scranton, PA
- Milwaukee, WI
- Cleveland, OH
- Erie, PA
- Parkersburg, WV
Moving on, we saw a little bit of hue and cry over President Bush’s use of religious imagery in his speech from the Democratic party. Rick Richman of Jewish Current Issues pointed out that the speech, in that particular as well as others, echoed John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural speech. I don’t suppose that John Kerry can be too happy about someone noting that comparison, then subsequently drawing a parallel between him and George McGovern, when Kerry has gone so far as to emphasize his middle initial in his introductions at campaign appearances in an effort to co-opt Kennedy’s legacy.
Mo’ fun coming soon.
9 September 2004 / 0 Comments / Tags: politics