[lbo-talk] Mitchel Cohen responds

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Jim F.
> Well, as I understand it, Wojtek has been living in the US since
> the 1980s.  I, as one who has lived here all his life, can assure
> him that Republicans have been playing those cards ever
> since I can remember (and my lifetime extends back to the
> second Eisenhower Administration - didn't Ike make hay out
> of running against that 'pointy head', Adlai Stevenson?).
> Certainly, Nixon, Reagan and the elder Bush all made a point of
running
> against commies, the liberal elites (or "effete snobs" as
> Agnew called them) and various foreigners.  So what's
> going to make the younger Bush any different this time around?

The economy, stupid, the economy.  The Eisenhowers and Nixons presided
over an economy that had been expanding for the white male breadwinners,
but it has been shrinking for that part of the population since the
1980s.  Doug makes that point quite clearly in his _After the new
economy_ e.g. comparing longitudinal changes of wages for different
ethnic and gender groups.  It is also my understanding that things
became much worse for the sector that so far felt immune from the
downturns of the capitalist economy - software engineers.  These folks
are conservative to begin with, and it is unlikely that they will turn
liberal when  the going gets tough - au contraire, they will turn
reactionary.

Another point - I never argued that the younger Bush is any different
than his Repug predecessors - perhaps nastier and more zealous, but
basically the same brand.  I only tried to forecast the electoral
dynamics.  If the Repugs did it in the past and it worked, as you claim,
that means that it may work in 2004 as well, no?

Wojtek