What is Pollcat?
1.
The name for members of the Republican party that, along with a radical right wing philosophy and a wish to blur the line between church and state, are known for reliance on “wedge issues” instead of sound ideas. Wedge politics is a particularly dirty brand of politics. Organized by members of right wing think tanks (such as American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, Hoover Foundation, etc), and a wide range of media institutions and key media figures (I.e. National Review, Rupert Murdoch, and Rush Limbaugh). They watch the "Polls" to find an issue that will polarize the electorate and distract from real issues. They began by using school prayer and abortion and ended by making gay marriage the deciding factor in the 2004 presidential election. This form of politics erodes democracy. The object is to poison the well for any civil debate. The name comes from the polecat, a chiefly nocturnal carnivorous mammal (Mustela putorius) of the weasel family that ejects a malodorous fluid to mark its territory and ward off enemies. In other words – a skunk.
The Pollcats are frustrated by Obama's wide appeal to independent voters.
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