Values, man.

This morning David Brooks bitches and bitches about how Kerry says "values" a lot, while Brooks doesn't believe he shares middle-class values. It's typical Brooks screed - whine whine whine about the other guy. Ignoring that the difference between Kerry and Bush here is that Kerry speaks in calm, even tones about his personal beliefs, while Bush pushes Amendments in a Constitutional gang-rape, Abu Ghraib style.

Thomas Frank pointed out that conservatives win this kind of food-fight, because they are willing to lead a fight on questions which rile the blood of people who should vote against them -- whose economic self-interests are not the conservatives'. Because it wins their votes.

This is going to be typical of this election: Republicans will talk values -- because that wins votes of the middle-class people who they impoverish through tax cuts for the wealthy and a suicidal fiscal policy which fueled the loss of 3 million jobs under Bush. Democrats will want to talk about Bush's knife-fight economy, and the national failure of Iraq.

Yesterday -- in an issue off the American radar -- Bush denounced Fidel Castro's government for sex tourism. What Americans does this affect? None -- since the US has had a travel embargo against Cuba for decades. But, it infuriates middle-class people against Castro, and sets Bush up as the "values" candidate. All while Bush raises their taxes and puts them out of work.

The great thing about values as an issue is that it wins you votes -- and scares voters out to vote -- all for an easy afternoon's work, and no new laws passed, no changes in policy needed. What that kind of equation -- why talk about something as complicated as medical insurance or tax law? I mean, other than it's the right thing to do, which our country needs?

Further on the values issue, more states will try to get gay marriage amendments on the Nov ballots. However, most of the states where this is happening (save 1) are already in the Bush column. Montana, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Utah, already have it on the ballots. Of those, all are "solid Bush" or "likely Bush" states (according to the Cook Report's July 6 Electoral College Scorecard), with 53 electoral college votes between them in the bank (Missouri, with 11 EC votes is a "toss up"). Ohio (20 votes, "toss up") and North Dakota (3 votes, "solid Bush") are still collecting signatures.

The Republicans want to talk values, man.