Wedge Issues

In a two party system, statesmanship is a rare commodity. This has only been made more pronounced with the recent shifts in campaigning and governing introduced under Clinton and perfected under George W. Bush. When you are always on the attack, your goal is not to work with the other party but to force the other party to retreat so far that you are able to legislate from a position of strength.

In this type of political environment, wedge issues become the tools of the trade. Wedge issues are issues that voters have strong opinions on. They are often tied to religious or cultural beliefs and have virtually no middle ground. Abortion, Gun Control, Immigration, Crime, Sexuality (especially Homosexuality) and National Security are a few of the prime issues that are used to divide and conquer a voting bloc or to split an opposing party.

An example of trying to divide and conquer a voting bloc is the recent focus by the Republican party on Homosexual marriage. African Americans tend to vote Democratic, but they also tend to have the most conservative views on gay marriage. By taking a strong stance against gay marriage, the Republican Party hopes to make inroads in this voting bloc, or at the very least undermine its potential value to the Democratic Party.

An example of usinig a wedge issue to divide a party is the Democrats use of of Stem cell research. They know that Republicans are against abortion, but many in their base are also in favor of stem cell research. Democrats like to use this issue because it makes the Republican Party look unsympathetic towards those who suffer from debilitating diseases. It also makes them look weak on health care issues, an issue that will become increasingly more important as the population ages.

Each party trys to deal with their wedge issues differently. Some by silencing debate or using heavy handed measures to keep members inline, others groups preffer a more open dialoge and try to make accomodations, but often wedge issues are designed in such a way that there cannot be any debate. One of the most famous wedge issues of all time in America was that of slavery. Slavery split the Democratic Party and eventually the nation. Compromize was seldom found and often at great cost when it was. Eventually no more compromise was to be found and the issue had to be resolved by civil war.

The use of Media by Presidents

This year, President Obama has been doing something different. He has been placing occasional appeals to the public via video formatt on YouTube. This is just another example of how technology has been harnessed by politicians to make it easier for them to get their message out directly to the people. Already during his tenure as a politician, Obama has shown himself to be technologically savvy in utilizing various media and internet resources to both increase his exposure and his fundraising abilitity. Everything from Facebook to Twitter to the aforementioned YouTube video are examples of how Obama has used technology to bypass the traditional media outlets and appeal directly to the American people.

Obama is not the first person to do this either. As soon as Roosevelt was elected he used a realatively new medium at the time - radio - to deliver his fireside chats. Kennedy also made use of the television cameras to triumph over Nixon in their Presidental Debates.

These are just a few examples of how media has been harnessed for the use of politicians, enabling them to communicate what they want to say to the people they want to reach.