Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

March 29, 2005

Dog Whistle Politics

Our mention yesterday of "dog-whistle politics" at work in the British elections elicited an interesting response from Political Wire readers. As Marianne Means notes, the British "use the expression to describe a high-pitched political message that excites a receptive audience but is unintelligible to the rest of us."

Kos says "we saw the Republicans employ that in 2004 to some degree. For example, Bush's puzzling debate diss of the Dred Scott decision left the vast majority of people scratching their heads, but the anti-abortion movement knew exactly what he was saying. It's Religious Right code for attacking Roe v. Wade."

If you have any other examples, I'd be interested in hearing them.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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