|
got this today in an e-mail it's from CBS market watch...
Bush's Achilles heel
Commentary: Forgotten environment a looming issue
By Chris Pummer, CBS MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Sometimes, the words a president doesn't say reveal more than the ones he does.
In his State of the Union speech, President Bush didn't once mention "the environment," which critics attributed to his vulnerability on the issue. Yet the president would have addressed the subject if polls showed anyone cared.
When it comes to our top political concerns, the environment doesn't rate a second thought these days. The reasons are many: Our preoccupation with terrorism, the economy and Iraq; Al Gore's not making it a major issue in 2000; and our growing, but misguided, faith in science's ability to save us from ourselves.
Once Democrats field their presidential candidate, Bush may find himself on the defensive for his disregard for Mother Nature. When his eventual rival shines a light on his record, we'll all realize how little we've cared for mom's well being.
(snip)
The League of Conservation Voters is recruiting 25,000 volunteers in four states that Bush or Gore won by the narrowest of margins in 2000. Each has a key environmental concern: Florida and the Everglades, Wisconsin and its dairy farms, Oregon and its logging battles and New Mexico and its nuclear-testing legacy.
"Environmental issues resonate with independent voters, who are about 10 percent of the electorate," Callahan said. "Swing voters tend to be as interested in the environment as Democrats. Our issues work very well with the persuadable voter."
Indeed, last year's Gallup Poll showed independents were closely aligned with Democrats in their perception of U.S. environmental conditions. Only 20 percent viewed conditions as positive, vs. 14 percent of Democrats and 48 percent of Republicans.
Getting the message across may be another matter: The media's paid increasingly less attention to the environment during Bush's tenure. The dimmed spotlight supports the adage that the media follows public opinion far more often than it dares lead it, despite its alleged liberal bias.
Sierra Club studies found the "domestic news hole" for environmental stories shrunk by a third in 2002 and another third in 2003 -- a total decline of more than 50 percent in two years
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
