[sinkspur]

I call. Let's see those cards.

Let's look at Webster's.

Demagogue= a person who appeals to the emotions and prejudices of people in order to gain political power.

Moore did that in 1998 to win the office of Chief Justice, and he will do it again.

[Windcatcher]

That's a start, but not good enough. According to Webter's, emotions and prejudices are the operative points. Fair enough.

Question: Did Moore, when running for election, proclaim that he would erect this monument and get elected on that issue alone? Or, was he elected BECAUSE HE IS A CONSERVATIVE in general? A Conservative (admittedly a *really right-wing* one) might erect this monument, but there's a whole lot more that goes along with the package:

- opposing abortion, a social issue about which Conservatives care deeply

- supporting strict sentences for criminals

- opposing loose interpretations of the state's laws and Constitution

There are lots of other things that make one Conservative, but these apply specifically to the duties of a Chief Justice.

It's not enough to say that he is appealing to people's emotions *now*, since he is already in power (though if he was up for reelection, I might tend more toward your perspective).

Nor, is it enough to say that he is appealing to people's emotions in general. It depends on how he does it. So far, his arguments seem to center on the state's Constitution, which is at is core an intellectual argument. He's not saying "But it's God's law! It's blasphemous to shut the Lord out!" In that case I'd wonder how he's qualified to be a judge at all. However, so far all I've seen so far are lucid, intellectual arguments. The fact that this is an admittedly emotional issue for a lot of people is beside the point. There are countless issues that are important to different people and cause emotional reactions.

The second half of the definition mentioned prejudices. I haven't seen any specific examples of anything Moore has said or done that would qualify as playing on prejudices, so, since you have labelled him a demagogue, you have the onus of providing specific examples.