ABSTRACT
Politics in the United States is frequently compared to war.1 Descriptions of politics in press and academic accounts rely on a vocabulary appropriated from military activities. Presidential and congressional “campaigns” are “fought” in “battleground” states. Candidates and parties “deploy” a series of “strategies” to increase their chances of “victory.” Resources are “marshaled” and the “troops” are sent out into the field to “mobilize” voters. The reliance on such a vocabulary seems even more appropriate because of the competitiveness of the current political era. Since Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in 1994, the two parties and their allied groups have “waged” intense “battles” to secure or maintain control of Congress. With soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and the general war on terror being waged, the vocabulary of war was also not far from the thoughts of voters. Politicians and parties, who perhaps previously had only used the vocabulary to discuss their races and tactics, found themselves using the vocabulary to explain their foreign policy positions to voters. The title of this book reflects the dual meaning. The 2006 cycle contained the intense conflicts that have become a significant part of every election cycle since 1994 as parties and groups have battled to secure control of Congress. The parties, interest groups, and candidates in the 2006 cycle also encountered a political landscape shaped significantly by the war in Iraq. Few of the participants in these competitive contests could ignore the conduct of the war and its consequences.
