On Sun, 9 Nov 2008, Doug Henwood wrote:
>> I honestly don't see why this new style electoral base should be any
>> less effective as a governor.
>
> All O has to do is throw 'em a few bones, like stem cell research and
> high-minded rhetoric, and they'll click away in '12.
Assuming arguendo this is true, this is different from the union model of a base exactly how? They got more than a few bones?
I think you guys are nostalgizing. Electoral bases never got huge amounts. They always got some, they had to be taken into account, you couldn't piss them off too many times without depressing your next campaign. But it's often been bones. That's a lot of what the right wing electoral base has gotten from their presidents, and they really are an organized social movement.
Michael