Each month in this space Mark Tate (Red) and Dan Morrow (Blue) provide absolutely definitive, perfectly reasoned and indisputably global solutions to all the world's great problems . . . in 150 words or less.

MARK TATE:
Why did President Bush Win?

As President Bush said on Election Day, "This Election is about whom America trusts." On November 2nd the American people chose the man they most trusted to lead America during a worldwide war on terrorism. Trust is usually the most important issue with American voters. And trust turned out to be the President's strong suit. Whether you agree with President Bush or not, he is very consistent about what he believes and what he will do. President Bush promised to cut our taxes—he cut them three times in four years; he promised to reform education—he brought us the "No Child Left Behind Act". He promised to wage a worldwide war on terrorism and fight terrorists wherever they may be—he has waged the promised war. Now you may not like what he did, but you can trust he will deliver what he promises. Now his opponent said he voted for the war before he voted against it. Choosing the candidate you could trust was easy.

Was The Election a Mandate for President Bush?

This election was clearly a mandate for President Bush and the Republican Party. A presidential candidate has not won the majority of the popular vote since 1988. A party's leader in the US Senate has not lost a re-election bid in 50 years. The Republican Party has won a wide margin of seats in the Senate and increased their already sizable lead in the House of Representatives. No presidential candidate has ever received more votes than President Bush (almost 60 million) received in this election. While this was a hard-fought election, the voters have clearly given a mandate to President Bush and the Republican Party. Now it is up to President Bush to use this mandate wisely.

The "God Gap": Has the Democratic Party Lost Touch with America?

On November 2nd President Bush won a decisive victory. Part of the credit for this victory has been given to the so-called "God Gap". Voters most concerned with moral issues favored President Bush. President Bush had winning margins from Evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Catholics and almost all religious demographic groups. More importantly, he had big gains over the 2000 election results from Hispanics and women, largely from their concerns about moral issues. The Democratic Party used to be the party of the little people, including the little people who are believers. Now the National Democratic Party is the party of the intellectuals and big political contributors. Now the National Democratic Party pushes away the faithful in America. The Republican Party has shown it is concerned about the moral issues facing America, and the faithful in America have become the base of the Republican Party. As long as the Republican Party shows itself as the compassionate party for the faithful in America, the Democratic Party can expect more election days like November 2nd and more victories like President Bush's.

DAN MORROW:

Why did President Bush Win?

For every 100 voters who "trusted" Mr. Bush, there were 96 or 97 American voters who did not. I believe Bush won because his "spin" on 9/11 and the war in Iraq allowed the GOP to unite an unlikely coalition of the fearful, the threatened, and the misinformed to reinforce the voters of their equally unlikely "base."

That "base" now combines traditional Republicans with the spiritual descendants of the Dixiecrats brought firmly into the GOP by Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy" (The "converts" included Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a host of other anti-civil-rights, pro-Vietnam-War, disproportionately fundamentalist voters and their kin.) The "traditional" Republicans, then and now, regard their party-jumping "Dixiecrat" allies with the utmost contempt, but hold their noses and pander for the sake of . . . victory. With Ronald Reagan they got very good at it . . . and they still are.

Was The Election a Mandate for President Bush?

If Bush's 51% constitutes a mandate, it begs the question, even for his fellow Republicans: a mandate to do what? Shall we continue to fight the war the way we're fighting it now? Repeal Roe v. Wade? Invest your social taxes in the stock market? Deny the protection of the law to gays and lesbians? Ban embryonic stem cell research? Ignore the provisions of the Geneva Convention? Appoint more Scalias and Thomases to the Supreme Court? For all too many members of Bush's coalition of the fearful, the answer to ALL those questions is a resounding YES! On the brighter side, for many good Republicans, the answer is an equally resounding NO! Creaky coalitions of the fearful and misinformed, led by cynics, in an environment in which half the members of the GOP hold the other half in deepest contempt, hardly makes for a mandate.

The "God Gap": Has the Democratic Party Lost Touch with America?

In the Southside Virginia of my youth, Evangelicals, mainline Protestants, and the few Catholics who had managed to survive the fear and contempt of their friends and neighbors roundly distrusted each other . . . or worse. These diverse "white" churches united, however, in their scriptural justification of both racial segregation, anti-Semitism, and other forms of intolerance. I was taught from the pulpit that the Jews killed Christ. A faith-based segregated academy helped close the public schools of Prince Edward County. Brave men and women of faith of all races . . . denounced, threatened, and sometimes murdered, helped change the face of the Old South for the better. Their best allies, then and now, were Democrats, and their work is still not done. "Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with God" was the sage advice offered to corrupt priests and politicians by the prophet Micah almost 3,000 years ago. It's still good advice.