Nightline commentary on Rove

[Keystone Phil]

This is ridiculous. I'm not some crazy Rove fan but this broadcast is just an all out attack (I guess just like Rove's tactics). The best is how Donna Brazille is the one person actually praising Rove for his political mind.

The worst part of this? They say that Rove helped the GOP win because of "wedge issues." I love when the Dems say we win on wedge issues but Nightline took it to a whole new level. The two wedge issues they mentioned: Gay marriage (ok, fair enough) and Gun control

Gun control? Wedge issue or just bitterness towards the GOP/an excuse for why the GOP wins on certain issues? Take your pick. It seems like any issue that there might be a heated debate over that might favor the GOP is a "wedge" even though the Dems may use these issues moreso than we do!

[bgwah]

Gay marriage has been a genius way of getting poor but religious and/or bigoted people to vote Republican.

[tik 🪀✨]

The news isn't being fair??

[Keystone Phil]

The news isn't being fair??

I just had to rant about it somewhere. My main point is how ridiculous they were to call gun control a wedge issue.

[12th Doctor]

This is ridiculous. I'm not some crazy Rove fan but this broadcast is just an all out attack (I guess just like Rove's tactics). The best is how Donna Brazille is the one person actually praising Rove for his political mind.

The worst part of this? They say that Rove helped the GOP win because of "wedge issues." I love when the Dems say we win on wedge issues but Nightline took it to a whole new level. The two wedge issues they mentioned: Gay marriage (ok, fair enough) and Gun control

Gun control? Wedge issue or just bitterness towards the GOP/an excuse for why the GOP wins on certain issues? Take your pick. It seems like any issue that there might be a heated debate over that might favor the GOP is a "wedge" even though the Dems may use these issues moreso than we do!

But Phil, look at the last two elections... note the lack of a clear consensus on one candidate or the other?  That is because Bush did win on wedge issues.  He picked out a few key issues that divided the country (in favor of his possition) and ran on those themes the hardest.  The War, Gay Marriage (abortion diappeared as an issue in 04, practically), gun control is an odd choice but..., fair trade, illegals

To be fair, both sides did their best to divide the country... but that was ow the last two elections were carried out.

[Nym90]

"Wedge issues" traditionally referred to issues that parties use to divide the opposite party's base and splinter off key constituencies away from the opposite party (sort of like splitting a piece of wood and driving a wedge into the wood, which is where the term originates from).

So that's why gun control is a wedge issue, because it causes many union members and blue collar voters who favor Democrats on economic issues to vote Republican. It divides and fractures the Democratic base pretty badly, and besides the direct taking of the votes from that one issue, a divided, fractitious party looks weak to the American people and is less likely to gain votes even from voters who don't care about the wedge issue in question for that reason.

[Keystone Phil]

This is ridiculous. I'm not some crazy Rove fan but this broadcast is just an all out attack (I guess just like Rove's tactics). The best is how Donna Brazille is the one person actually praising Rove for his political mind.

The worst part of this? They say that Rove helped the GOP win because of "wedge issues." I love when the Dems say we win on wedge issues but Nightline took it to a whole new level. The two wedge issues they mentioned: Gay marriage (ok, fair enough) and Gun control

Gun control? Wedge issue or just bitterness towards the GOP/an excuse for why the GOP wins on certain issues? Take your pick. It seems like any issue that there might be a heated debate over that might favor the GOP is a "wedge" even though the Dems may use these issues moreso than we do!

But Phil, look at the last two elections... note the lack of a clear consensus on one candidate or the other?  That is because Bush did win on wedge issues.  He picked out a few key issues that divided the country (in favor of his possition) and ran on those themes the hardest.  The War, Gay Marriage (abortion diappeared as an issue in 04, practically), gun control is an odd choice but..., fair trade, illegals

To be fair, both sides did their best to divide the country... but that was ow the last two elections were carried out.

Issues always divide people. I don't see what makes this a wedge issue. What I hate the most is how it is portrayed that only the GOP uses wedge issues.

[Nym90]

This is ridiculous. I'm not some crazy Rove fan but this broadcast is just an all out attack (I guess just like Rove's tactics). The best is how Donna Brazille is the one person actually praising Rove for his political mind.

The worst part of this? They say that Rove helped the GOP win because of "wedge issues." I love when the Dems say we win on wedge issues but Nightline took it to a whole new level. The two wedge issues they mentioned: Gay marriage (ok, fair enough) and Gun control

Gun control? Wedge issue or just bitterness towards the GOP/an excuse for why the GOP wins on certain issues? Take your pick. It seems like any issue that there might be a heated debate over that might favor the GOP is a "wedge" even though the Dems may use these issues moreso than we do!

But Phil, look at the last two elections... note the lack of a clear consensus on one candidate or the other?  That is because Bush did win on wedge issues.  He picked out a few key issues that divided the country (in favor of his possition) and ran on those themes the hardest.  The War, Gay Marriage (abortion diappeared as an issue in 04, practically), gun control is an odd choice but..., fair trade, illegals

To be fair, both sides did their best to divide the country... but that was ow the last two elections were carried out.

Issues always divide people. I don't see what makes this a wedge issue. What I hate the most is how it is portrayed that only the GOP uses wedge issues.

Well yes, but what makes it a wedge issue is that it is an issue in which much of the traditional, old school Democratic base doesn't agree with the Democratic position.

Sort of like how immigration is currently a major wedge issue for the Republicans. Given that some evangelical groups are becoming strongly pro-enviornment, issues like global warming and such could also be wedge issues for the GOP. Civil liberties and domestic wiretapping also might qualify in some respects since there are still quite a few old school libertarian Republicans.

I don't think it's true that the Republicans are the only ones who try to use wedge issues, but I think they've been far more successful at it. Not that that's a bad thing per se; I certainly wouldn't agree with the argument, but you could well argue that blue collar voters should indeed be more concerned about gun control than "bread and butter" economic issues.

I think what defines a "wedge issue" more than anything else is that it causes a shift in the party's base by splintering off a particular group of voters who, while perhaps mostly agreeing with the party, strongly disagree on that one issue, and thus change their vote because of it. So the change in the fundamental composition of a party's base of support is the main defining element, at least in my mind.

[opebo]

The news isn't being fair??

Of course it is.  Keystone Phil just doesn't like what they're saying.

[Conan]

At least some wedge issues don't trash contingencies of people.

[Lief 🗽]

Rove used gun control as a wedge issue in 2000. Gun control was one of the main reasons why Gore lost the traditionally blue collar, Democratic state of West Virginia. Gore was the scary liberal who was going to take hard-working American's guns away.

[Wakie]

The truth of the matter is that Karl Rove is a clever man who will do ANYTHING to get his guy into office and to promote his side's point of view.  He's a modern Joseph Goebbels.

If you go back through his life you find that he has employed theft, misinformation, dirty tricks, and attacks on children and spouses.  He is the embodiment of everything that is currently wrong with American politics.

[MODU]

I would have to see the text of the shows discussion.