Karl Rove sent a few memos through some 527s and asked Republicans to vote in dem primaries in Iowa and NH. Kerry was Rove's pick according to my Replicant party insider friend. They didn't think they could beat Dean or Edwards so easily and they were already working on the Pleasure Boat Kaptain for Mendacity campaign, building on earlier efforts to sink Kerry in '96, IIRC.
(Aside to Jon: Since I've never paid attn to presdinential campaigns in the past and can only vaguely remember the issues when I campaigned for Jackson, I wonder if you'd elaborate on what you mean by this being the worst campaign you've witnessed. I'm shocked at the lies. I'm especially puzzled by the weird way the media appears to be rooting for Kerry, while covering the 'news' in a way that favors the replicants.)
As for the Religious War comment, what I mean by that specifically is that I see the country as approaching civil war. It is motivated by economics, as well as by the anger over the defeat of the democrats and the fissure that divides the nation as to how to handle foreign policy, the War on Terr (tm), and Quagmire: Iraq. It won't be fought as class warfare, not directly, and it will only be fought inchoately in terms of foreign policy questions (since people won't dare be labeled as Weak on Terr (tm). Rather, it will be fought at the level of religious ideology, with the right nutters emboldened by a Shrub-Fuckyourself '04 win.
Whether you see religious issues as a problem has to do with perspective, as Woj said. If you hang out with ordinary folk and away from liberal pockets of the country, you might notice that the ranks of the religious right, particularly evangelicals, are growing among the more well-to-do. AS I mentioned a while back, I attend public school functions in a wealthy school district where my son was recruited to play b-ball.
These people think nothing of praying to the dead guy on a stick at tax-funded events and, when you object, you're told that the Founding Daddies were (just) cheerischins (my furry ass) and, besides, praying is important for the country. Don't be so PC!
They are also "organizing" which you'd think would be tough to do, given "just christian" antipathy toward denominational communities of faith. They are organizing by aggressively advertising their presence _as_ business owners for instance. Look at advertisements: you'll see the fish. This is very important. It's a way of testifying: indicating who's side you are on. It's networking. It's a decision to boldly pronounce who's side you're on b/c the goal is to win converts. You demonstrate to others how successful you are in live, sport the fish, and if anyone wondered how you did it--now they know. It was because of your personal relationship with the dead guy on a stick.
They are advertising by establishing charities and community outreach programs, finding pockets of need, addressing those needs and winning converts. If not converts then, like terrorists, they win sympathizers.
They are advertising by testifying, an important component of "just Christian" ideology. You don't necessarily preach at people, you simply take every opportunity to testify to the power of the dead guy on a stick.
Kelley
"We're in a fucking stagmire."
--Little Carmine, 'The Sopranos'