Thanks to Robert Cunningham for sending me the link to Public Theology that called my attention to an article that was in Tuesday’s Washington Post. Howell Raines, the former executive editor of the New York Times, had some very interesting things to say about the PR war going on to win votes to elect a President. Here’s what he had to say about the war to win Southern Baptist hearts and minds:
The Republicans’ new cultural populism has created an odd couple of a different sort. In their heart of heart, the party’s leadership in Washington and the conservative think tanks disdain the social rigidity and common tastes of the party’s NASCAR wing. They worry a bit that George W. Bush seems to have a genuine liking for the slumming required of a self-created cultural populist. But GOP strategists and think-tankers are able to stifle these concerns, because there’s been no one since Ronald Reagan so good at getting votes from Southern Baptists trying to raise families on 40 grand a year.
Raines has helped me see two things: 1) I now know how to define “family values” – it’s a Southern Baptist trying to raise a family on 40 grand a year. 2) I also discovered how I got so out-of-step with the Southern Baptist worldview. I’ve never been to a NASCAR race.
The last time I felt so out-of-place was when I was informed that over 60% of Americans watch professional wrestling at least once a week.
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