Newswise — "With the recent news of the dramatic stock market decline and the government bailouts of leading mortgage industries, the economy is quickly turning voters' attention to domestic issues. A lot of Republicans could be persuaded by our economic problems to vote Democratic " it's the wedge issue that could send even committed Republican voters to the other side," political scientist Todd Shields of the University of Arkansas says.
Shields is available to discuss wedge issues and persuadable voters historically and in 2008.
"Ultimately, this presidential election will be decided by a few swing states. Democratic strategists are hoping to convince independent and moderate Republicans in the battleground states -- such as Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania in particular " to question the GOP's ability to manage the economy."
Shields describes a wedge issue as an issue that is so important to voters they are willing to cross over when they disagree with their party's position. While Palin's candidacy serves more to mobilize the social conservative base of the GOP, she does appeal to some independent and Democratic women who would like to see a woman in the White House.
"Sarah Palin has energized social conservative voters in ways John McCain could not. In particular, she has the potential to mobilize voters in Missouri and Florida, homes to large Assembly of God congregations," Shields says.
Shields is a professor of political science at the University of Arkansas and director of the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society. He is co-author with D. Sunshine Hillygus of Harvard University of The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns, published in 2008 by Princeton University Press.
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