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February 10, 2012
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
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Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
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Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
May 20, 2008
/ 15 Iyar 5768
Will Obama claim a cultural war victory?
By
Clarence Page
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
John Edwards did a large favor for Sen. Barack Obama, but the Illinois senator is not out of the woods yet.
The former North Carolina senator's endorsement last week of Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination blunted Sen. Hillary Clinton's ability to celebrate her two-to-one West Virginia primary landslide.
But, even if Obama is nominated and chooses Edwards for vice president, as many hope he will, the old adage still remains overwhelmingly true that voters vote for the candidate, not the running mate. Obama still needs to reach more of the folks who have supported him the least.
According to Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, the savvy Virginia-based consultant who helped Edwards and other Democrats improve their rural vote: We make too much of "color" and talk too little about "culture."
Culture matters. Democrats have long been frustrated to see their party, historically the party of America's working-class, being rejected by the very voters its policies are intended to help.
For example, Democratic presidential nominees have not won a majority of working-class white males at the ballot box since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Since then, Bill Clinton came closest in 1992 by connecting culturally, not just politically. When he said "I feel your pain," a lot of people believed him.
Obama's weak appeal to blue-collar voters is tied to his other liability, his newness to America's political stage. Lower income voters tend to be the least knowledgeable about "the skinny kid with the funny name," as Obama cheerfully introduced himself during his Senate campaign. In his presidential quest, they have been the most likely to believe the false rumors that he's Muslim, refuses to salute the flag, hangs out with radicals and doesn't appreciate the values of people who work hard for a living.
Obama's awareness of that cultural gap probably explains why he's taken to wearing his American flag lapel pin again. It may be a small thing to him intellectually, as he has said, but it does a lot to shatter some of the false Internet-fed impressions about him that have been allowed to grow and harden in some neighborhoods.
Ironically, despite Republican attempts to paint Obama as a liberal, he is in many ways a cultural conservative. His 2004 Democratic National Convention speech that launched his rapid rise on the national stage, you may recall, was grounded in values that made him the Democratic Party's answer to Colin Powell and Bill Cosby.
People from across the political spectrum hoped Obama might transcend the nation's racial divide. That effort was brought rapidly down to Earth by the inflammatory sound bites of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. Obama's image as a unifier can rise again by speaking to issues that connect with people's daily lives. One example has been embedded in his biography: the breakdown of the American family.
The rise of out-of-wedlock births is one the thorniest issues facing the black community today. But the issue reaches beyond race. Out-of-wedlock births have risen to almost 70 percent in black America, almost half of Hispanic births and more than a fourth of white births. In 1950, the rates for all three were about 10 percent.
Add in the high rates of divorce and other parental breakups and you have large numbers of American children growing up in single-parent households. Some 24 million children live apart from their fathers, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative. As Roland Warren, the initiative's president, has said, "Kids have a hole in their soul the shape of their dad."
Obama knows that feeling, as his first autobiography recounts. His parents were married, but his Kenyan father abandoned his mother when Barack was very young. He was raised mostly by his mother's parents.
In endless arguments, conservatives cite the welfare policies of "the nanny state." Liberals point to the disappearance of jobs and other community resources that give families assistance.
Obama has cited both. He also has introduced legislation to remove some of the government penalties on married families and crack down on men avoiding child-support payments.
Yet, beyond occasional mentions of being raised by a single mom, Obama has not used his bully pulpit very much to couple government action with the promotion of marriage and other personal responsibility. That's not easy to do without being accused of "blaming the victims" for their problems. But, Obama could hardly find a more worthy topic for a national conversation.
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