popular thinking

All of the TV pundits today were rallying behind the new groupthink: That President Bush is focused on "getting out his base" while Sen. Kerry is "reaching out to swing voters." Nice in theory. But like everything else about this campaign, the truth is slightly different. You don't need to be named Gallup to know that our nation is becoming almost as deeply divided as it was in 1860, although the battle lines are being drawn not geographically on slavery, but culturally and economically. I believe the great yet-to-be-heard majority is unhappy with the Bush administration but not yet sold on John Kerry. Just ask my grandmother. She is a retiree who has seen her southwest Pennsylvania town decline over the past 20 years, as jobs and money continue to flee for metaphorically greener pastures. She says she doesn't like where the country is headed, but she also doesn't like Kerry. So who will win her vote? Many of her neighbors in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia could be classified as blue-collar conservatives, people who used to be loyal Democrats but now are up for grabs. This is why Bush's new campaign tactic is to label Kerry as a liberal, while Kerry wants to avoid labeling. I grew up in a Connecticut suburb where it was perfectly fine to be known as a liberal Republican. Those days are disappearing.