Values Voters, the Economy and the Presidential Campaign

Making News

The US Economy Contracts ()

The US economy grew by 2.8 percent in the second quarter of this year. In the third quarter, the Commerce Department said today, it shrank by .3 percent with contractions in domestic spending and business investment. Kevin Hall is national economics correspondent for McClatchy newspapers.

Guests:

• Kevin Hall: National Economics Correspondent, McClatchy Newspapers, @KevinGHall

Main Topic

Will 'Values Voters' Turn to the Economy? ()

To upset Barack Obama next Tuesday, John McCain is counting on a conservative base in small towns, energized by running-mate Sarah Palin. It's the so-called "values vote," focused on social issues -- abortion, gay marriage and gun rights -- as well as cutting the size of government.  Four years ago, Thomas Frank published What's the Matter with Kansas?, raising a question about the so-called "values voters" who were crucial to the election and re-election of George W. Bush.  This year, big parts of America's "Heartland" have become battlegrounds between McCain and Obama.  Is that a temporary phenomenon or will there be lasting political consequences? Is the economy trumping the culture wars?  Has the population changed in the past eight years?

Guests:

• Joe Bageant: journalist
• William Frey: Demographer, Brookings Institution
• Anna Greenberg: Vice President, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
• John McLaughlin: Republican strategist, John McLaughlin and Associates

Links:

• Bageant's 'Deer Hunting with Jesus'
• Frey's 'America by the Numbers'
• Key demographic trends in 2008 election, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy on
• Democrats and Swing Mountain West districts, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on

Reporter's Notebook

Obama Takes Over America's TV's ()

For 30 minutes of prime time on broadcast and cable outlets last night, Barack Obama made what was inevitably called the "closing argument" of his presidential campaign. It featured a retiree cheated out of his pension, an elderly couple faced with high medical bills, a widow concerned with her kids’ education and a couple looking at layoffs from a Ford automobile factory. Obama promised to help them all. What did it say about his view of the country and possible role in the White House? Michael Lind, senior fellow at the New America Foundation, is author of The American Way of Strategy.

Guests:

• Michael Lind: Whitehead Senior Fellow, New America Foundation

Links:

• Lind's (Daily Beast) blog on the 'Obamercial'
• Lind's book, 'The American Way of Strategy'