You are the only other person on the board who's brought up Atwater. I thought he was one of the few Republicans who fought like a Democrat. The grand poobah's of the GOP seem to want to forget him. Without him, Bush might have lost to Dukakis.
“The grand poobah’s of the GOP seem to want to forget him”
They acted like they hated him at the time. Well I guess it wasn’t an act, the scum running the RNC really did hate him. I thought he was great, it’s the type of political fighting that I love.
It reminds me of what the crew over at Vdare call the Thick End of the Wedge theory. There are two views on how you can influence public debate. The usual sissies think that you should insert a slight modification into your opponent’s argument and ever so slightly push him towards your position. Lather rinse repeat, and after a zillion years he might be slightly closer to your position. That’s the Thin End Theory.
In contrast there’s the Thick End Theory. You grab the wedge by the thin end and pound your opponent with the thick end as hard as possible. Then stand back and see what happens.