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Guest
Republicans seem to be pulling back a bit from the social issues that raised red flags about extremism and irrelevancy.
During the build up to Super Tuesday, Republican presidential candidates turned to another classic campaign theme — national security.
But barring some bigger national security crisis flaring before the election in November, this time the strategy won't work. The polls have been quite clear that voters are primarily concerned about the economy. Even with signs of recovery, the severity of the current recession makes economic security the theme of our times.
According to The New York Times, in every state on Super Tuesday voters told pollsters that the economy was the major factor behind their choice of candidate.
The situation is not unlike 1992, when a recession drowned out interest in foreign policy and thus undermined the ability of the incumbent, President George H.W. Bush, to use his success in Operation Desert Storm as a way to defeat then-Gov. Bill Clinton. As James Carville's slogan said, "It's the economy, stupid."
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/12/opinion/zelizer-gop-national-security/index.html
During the build up to Super Tuesday, Republican presidential candidates turned to another classic campaign theme — national security.
But barring some bigger national security crisis flaring before the election in November, this time the strategy won't work. The polls have been quite clear that voters are primarily concerned about the economy. Even with signs of recovery, the severity of the current recession makes economic security the theme of our times.
According to The New York Times, in every state on Super Tuesday voters told pollsters that the economy was the major factor behind their choice of candidate.
The situation is not unlike 1992, when a recession drowned out interest in foreign policy and thus undermined the ability of the incumbent, President George H.W. Bush, to use his success in Operation Desert Storm as a way to defeat then-Gov. Bill Clinton. As James Carville's slogan said, "It's the economy, stupid."
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/12/opinion/zelizer-gop-national-security/index.html