joker in the deck

think of politics as a card game.

you already know about the race card. well, any issue can be meta4morphed into a card: gender, guns, environment, you name it.

no single issue ever wins an election by itself. it mostly comes down to playing more cards than the opponent, but skill can be decisive.

in 2000 bush played the god card by turning christ into a "political thinker or philosopher," and media types—stunned by his brazen declaration of faith—never even questioned whether either of those descriptions fit.

colin powell personified the race card, and his misguided sense of loyalty kept him in hand just long enough to score points with a few extra voters in one or two key states in 2004 before el busho abruptly discarded him.

condi rice is a wild card, pairing just enough race and gender to guilt-trip any white libs whose bleeding hearts lack hard-nose balance, fool any blacks who vote color before character, and trip up any feminists with similar indiscrimination.

dubya even played the enviro card in 2000 by calling for reduced carbon emissions. the day after he got sworn in he replayed that joker by canceling or rolling back 400 regulations and programs.

4 years later vp and mrs vader masterfully melded the gay and family cards to win a trick and the game with the most effective fake issue since the missile gap.

voters still haven't learned to spot knaves.