[hchutch]

"It is probably a better chance to try to woo a portion of the minority vote and a portion of the union vote than it is to try to match the 'get out the vote' machine of the Democrats."

I think Bush has decided that he can woo Hispanic votes and a fair portion of union votes, and both seem to be working, as long as we can keep the "true conservatives" in check. I think we're close to breaking up the Democratic coalition.

[Dales]

Right.

I am a free trader. But because of the union factor, the steel tarriffs didn't really irk me too bad, especially since the international steel market isn't exactly fair (with former communist nations still having excess capacity partly as the result of state funding).

I still think all of that will be more germane for 2004 than 2002. It is my assumption that 2002's election will take place in a markedly different environment than we have right now.