Abstract

Straight Down the Middle

Focuses on the lack of attention paid to poor people during the political campaigning of President George W. Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 United States election. Reference to a 2003 Census Bureau report stating that 35.9 million U.S. citizens live in poverty; Increase of poverty under the Bush Administration; Focus of Kerry's campaign on working families and the middle class; Growth of financial insecurity among middle class citizens; Reference to the low turnout rate among low-income voters in the 2000 election; Suggestion that poor voters feel alienated from those in power; Discussion of Bush's faith-based initiative, which grants federal funds to religious organizations so they can provide social services to the poor; Reference to an essay entitled "The Silence of the Liberals," by Jason DeParle, in "The Washington Monthly"; Reference to the book "American Dream," by DeParle; Criticism of Alphonso Jackson, the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.