To the Point

The Politics of Fear in an Election Year

Fear has been a major element in a lot of presidential campaigns. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt said, -the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.- With the end of the Cold War, Americans felt less threatened, and Bill Clinton focused on -the economy, stupid.- But September 11th changed all that. Now, the candidates--and the incumbent--are talking about who-s best qualified to keep America safe from terrorism. Are the voters really worried? We consider the electoral impact of the politics of fear with journalists, pollsters and political historians. Making News: Cingular Wins Bidding War for AT&T Wireless In a deal that was finally complete at three in the morning, Cingular Wireless has won the auction for AT&T Wireless with a bid of $41 billion. The deal will make Cingular the number one wireless provider in the US. Andrew Ross Sorkin, who covers mergers and acquisitions for the New York Times, has details on the deal that caught rival bidder Vodafone asleep at the wheel. Reporter's Notebook: Report Shows over 4,000 Priests Accused of Abuse in the US With a national survey due out in two weeks, in Los Angeles today, the nation-s largest Catholic Archdiocese has released a report saying that 244 priests and other officials have been accused of molesting 656 minor children since 1931. Do the numbers tell the whole story? Richard McBrien, an author and professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, looks at celibacy, marriage and the growing schism between the Church and its flock.