‘Culture wars’ shaping election

The Supreme Court case over whether to keep a reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance is the latest skirmish in the “culture wars” that are helping shape the presidential election, much to the delight of Republicans.

From homosexual “marriage” to the immensely popular film “The Passion of the Christ,” cultural issues are emerging as an important subplot in a campaign dominated by national security and the economy.

With the electorate polarized, as recent surveys show, appealing to and exciting the political base is seen as more important than usual. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush lost his re-election bid, and many analysts cited his weak support among conservatives and failure to appeal to the cultural and religious right.

But some Democrats are worried that the culture wars will help the current President Bush.

“He sort of wins on a lot of these issues without even firing a shot,” said Democrat Manfred Wolf, an English professor at San Francisco State University. “It’s just a feeling that a lot of people have that the country is growing soft, and they don’t like it.

“The Republicans tend to cash in on this,” he added. “I would hate to see the Democratic Party get caught in this, because the Democratic Party will lose on these cultural issues.”

The Bush campaign agreed.

“The Democrats’ position on almost all of these issues is anti-majoritarian,” said a senior campaign official. “Their position is: Because we don’t trust the majorities in defining marriage, or in establishing appropriate laws in their states on things like abortion or on so many other fronts, we need to step in and have an elite group of people who share our values tell the majority what to do.”

For example, he said, the left warned that Mel Gibson’s “The Passion,” which graphically depicts Jesus’ crucifixion, would incite anti-Semitism.

“Think about what they’re saying: You can’t be trusted to go see this movie. You can’t be trusted, or your passions will rise up,” said the Bush campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Ignoring such warnings, enormous numbers of Christians and other Americans have been deeply moved by “The Passion,” which is poised to become one of the biggest moneymakers in film history despite its R rating.

When the movie was released last month, the president publicly expressed his desire to see it, although he has not yet had the opportunity. In contrast, Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, fretted that it would fuel anti-Semitism.

“I am concerned,” the Massachusetts Democrat told reporters. “I don’t know if it’s there or not, but there’s a lot of it around now. I think we have to be careful.”

Kerry spokeswoman Kathy Roeder said yesterday she did not know whether the candidate had seen the film. She also said Mr. Kerry has not taken a position on whether the Pledge of Allegiance should include the phrase “under God,” which is being challenged in the Supreme Court.

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