Ted Rall - Thursday June 4, 1998 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

The rise of single-issue politics has revolutionized the way Americans cast their votes. (Woman: Barry! How could you? Shenton's a Nazi!) (Man: Nazi, schnazi- all I care about is the California condor!) Savvy analysts are building sophisticated models of platforms designed to optimize support from the new breed of monomaniacal voter. (Man: The perfect candidate has extremely ardent positions on a huge number of issues from all over the political spectrum.) Some pundits worry that tailoring campaign promises without considering ideological consistency is a recipe for increased cynicism and alienation from the electoral process. (Man: Do you support the death penalty for polluters? I'm a militant pacifist, and I'll use force to prove it!) Optimists, on the other hand, predict more focus on those single issues- and more interest in politics. (Television: At the top of the 6:00 news: senator Alan Shenton has challenged opponents of his condor preservation bill to a duel to the death.) (Man: Rock on Birdman!) (Man: Wake me up when gay rights come up.)

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