L to R – David Frum, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Jonathan Chait, Senior Editor, The New Republic; Melody Barnes, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Bob Edgar, Reverend and General Secretary for the National Council of Churches; Ruy Teixeira, pollster and Joint Fellow at the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation
How Character Counted: Persepctives on the 2004 Election
November 15, 2004
With 22 percent of the American electorate saying that moral values were the most important factor in making their pick for president, a heated debate has erupted over just what those values are and how Republicans have developed a monopoly over the voters who consider them paramount. Panelists will address the role of character, religion and values-related issues in the election.
• Audio: How Character Counted
• Video: Melody Barnes | Jonathan Chait | David Frum | Bob Edgar | Ruy Teixeira | Q&A
• Transcript
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| David Frum, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute “I think John Kerry’s key problem in this election … was that 1971 testimony – that this was the year that the Democrats nominated as president a person who had been a member of the antiwar movement.” |
Jonathan Chait, Senior Editor, The New Republic “I think part of what’s happened in American politics is there’s been kind of a machinery of personal virtue on the Republican side that hasn’t really been matched by the Democratic side.” |
Melody Barnes, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress “There is a new silent majority in America and it is comprised of religious moderates, religious progressives, and other non-traditional religious voters. This block of religious voters constitutes 54 percent of the electorate.” |
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| Bob Edgar, Reverend and General Secretary for the National Council of Churches “I’m not going to give to the religious right or the political right the content of the word morality or values. I think we hold that content.” |
Ruy Teixeira, pollster and Joint Fellow at the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation “Just because someone voted on the basis of the economy or Iraq doesn’t mean they weren’t voting on the basis of values. The problem is they probably underperformed in terms of those kinds of voters.” |