In order to gain a political majority in this country we need 51%. We have 49%. This question of where we are going to get that majority could be answered in any number of ways or any combination of ways. But, you have to settle on some sort of strategy and mine comes down on the second option. It reflects my personal values and I think it presents a stark, clear choice between the two parties now that the Republicans are being shackled by their image as the party of the religious right extremists. I think it's good policy and good politics both to embrace a "mind your own business" message in light of how far out the Republicans have become. Now is not the time, in my opinion, to blur the lines. It's time to draw them clearly. All those people who watched FOXnews in disgust during the Schiavo matter are open to the argument that the Republicans are trying to impose radical religious values on the country.
But, others disagree and think that social conservatism is where the votes are and that's where we should concentrate our efforts. I have serious doubts that attacking popular culture will be seen as anything more than pandering but there are ways to test this issue.
And more Big Media Matt:
That's great. I think better child care is desperately needed. I think the Democratic Party's neglect of work/family issues is insane and unconscionable and that if liberalism has any future it's in tackling these issues. But -- and this is crucially important -- going all Joe Lieberman and ranting and raving about how video game companies are destroying the soul of America's youth does not constitute addressing the problem. If you need to pretend you think Grand Theft Auto is a major social problem in order to get people to support actual solutions to actual major social problems arising from the intersection of feminism and capitalism, so much the better. But I worry that obsessing about Friends does the reverse: It's a convenient ploy to distract attention from the actual structural economic forces at work. So if our disagreement is really just about political tactics, let's have the disagreement on those terms without castigating the less-cynical side as composed of insidious "cultural elites." If Amy really thinks there is something government ought to do on the merits to curb popular culture, then I'd like to hear what, exactly, it is.