[firebrand]

You said

In politics, a wedge issue is something you use against your opponent and try to keep them from using against you.

So you meant to say ". . . and you try to keep them from using other wedge issues against you."

I still fail to see how a big moral issue is a wedge issue. One of the examples given was abortion. What would the larger issue be? Women's "rights"? I don't think so.

Or with God in the public square? What would the larger issue be? God?

Racial preferences? What would the larger issue be here? Disobedience to the rulings of the Supreme Court?

The only one that makes any sense is gay marriage, which could be a wedge issue to stop the headlong rush to gays taking over everything they feel like taking over, the whole gay agenda.

The issues mentioned in the article are big moral issues. They are not wedges. They are not micro-targets. Maybe we can think of a way to use wedges on these issues.

The Left is indeed trying to use these large issues against us, to divide the libertarians from the social conservatives. In that much we agree.

[ElPatriota]

This article is PURE B.S. from my perspective!

Funny how some people define "winning." I can almost see a poster during the Hitler years in Germany, ...If you want to win, JOIN THE NAZI PARTY...

SOCIAL-CONSERVATIVES must be firm in rejecting this kind of crap.

[D-fendr]

Technically a wedge issue is anything that can be used to divide your base. It's partly art, you can mess it up and sometimes what you think will work backfires. There's not necessarily a "bigger issue" and it's not necessarily a moral issue although those have greater promise because of the emotion involved and the complexity and greater divisions, etc. For example, Christians are a unified group, but visit the Religion Forum for how they can tear each other apart over bits of theology. The commonality of wedge issues, successful ones is that they create internal division, vitrolic debate and fractionalization within an otherwise united front. If you want a big/smaller paradigm, one could be the free enterprise system - free markets, less government regulation, taxes etc. That would be the "big". Now start talking about exporting jobs, trade imbalance, protecting American workers, etc. and you start peeling off competing subgroups. That would be the small. Anything that divides an otherwise united front can be a wedge issue. It's not an exact science, and is never used by pros without thorough research and testing first.

Or with God in the public square? What would the larger issue be? God?

Freedom of religion, church and state, which religion taught in schools, should religion be taught, who teaches it, prayer in school, how should religion be taught, if you're for school prayer, what about the Muslim prayer, a Mormon president?... Find the united position, look for factions, appeal to a faction, foment division, internal debate, fan the flames, promote the fights. The old divide and conquer - whatever works as an issue to do this = wedge issue.

Become an expert in spotting them and using them to win and oilå, you have the makings of a hired gun.

[D-fendr]

I realize I’m mixing up “our base” and “their base” but I’m tired and typing quickly and I hope you get the point anyway. A wedge is an issue that works to divide an otherwise unified base. Yours or your opponents, different wedges.