Ghosts of Trotsky in Arizona
            

            Margo,

            It makes me happy that you feel comfortable calling me Massa Honey and I
like the idea of Gary Bauer dolls. Evangelical children across the country will
want one for Christmas. When you rub Gary's belly, he says, "Welcome the unborn
into the world" and then emits a cute little giggle. I am contrarian on the
subject of Gary Bauer. Let's set aside any of our quibbles with his positions.
I actually think he's a smart, ideologically consistent guy who makes his case
in a reasonable way. But far more than Keyes is hobbled by race, Bauer is
hobbled by looks. No profile can resist mentioning that he's short and looks
like a lizard. Last night, Gary's questioning of Bush was especially shrewd. He
asked whether Chinese bad behavior would ever deserve sanctions: Would Bush
want to punish them if they doubled the number of slave-labor camps? Increased
tenfold the number of forced abortions? It made Bush squirm. Bauer really has
played a big role in helping put the China issue on the table, and he deserves
credit for this.

            Let me bore you with a few Bauer tidbits: 1) Bush thinks Bauer is a nitwit
and has never had patience for the guy. Bush looked physically pained being
questioned by him. 2) The McCain people are afraid that Bauer will be the
social conservative to survive the New Hampshire primary. Their fear: Bauer
will tag team with Bush to beat up on McCain because McCain isn't pro-life
enough. This is what I love about watching the leadership of the religious
right. They are the closest living things to Trotskyites. (I should know. Full
disclosure: Trotsky was my cousin. The family never forgave him for changing
his name from Bronstein.) They think about politics and power in a way far more
calculating than we can imagine. They will enter into popular-front alliances
to force their issues onto the agenda. And they bicker among themselves
endlessly. Last night a friend tried to describe to me the differences between
West Coast Straussians and East Coast ones--apparently this is an important
split among social conservatives over the teachings of philosopher Leo Strauss.
The debate revolves around the importance of the Declaration of Independence to
conservatives. I'll try to figure out more by my next dispatch.

            The hotel bar is not nearly so glamorous as you would think. For starters, I
never seem to know any of the truly good dish. Besides, the late night at the
hotel bar is used to lay the groundwork to get good dish later. Political
reporting is like selling insurance--it's about relationships. I am hoping that
my cultivation of spinmeisters tonight will score me scoops down the road. Does
that make me as calculating as the religious right and the Trotskyites? I think
so.

            Your sectarian friend,
Frank