Meyerson : New Age Arnold, Old Testament GOP

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Who says the Republicans don't have an industrial policy? Against all odds, they continue to manufacture wedge issues. Imagine all those Democratic congressmen from culturally conservative districts who will flounder around trying to distance themselves from their all-too-tolerant party. Be it cultural traditionalism or strategic bigotry, the war on gay marriage -- that is, on human equality -- looms large in the GOP's electoral calculations for 2004.

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But that doesn't mean Schwarzenegger need stay silent when his party embarks on a campaign of stirring ancient hatreds. If Republicans really want to win the kind of voters Schwarzenegger attracted, they're way overdue for a Sister Souljah speech from a party leader with the guts to condemn his fellow party leaders for their manipulation of xenophobic, homophobic and racist fears. That speech would be no less powerful if delivered with an immigrant's accent.

Or Schwarzenegger could take a pass, and the Republican Party could stay its current course, alternating between Old Testament morality and new age sexuality in accord with the demographics of the district. Call it a big-tent party, or a boundless well of cynicism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32419-2003Oct28.html