Prize issues

Limbaugh said Fox’s spasms on camera were merely “an act”. As USA Today put it, “Limbaugh noted that Fox, a longtime advocate for research on embryonic stem cells, has said he sometimes does not take his medication in order to illustrate Parkinson’s severe physical effects. Uncontrolled shaking and stiffness are among the symptoms of the nerve disease.” The paper noted that stem cells are an issue in at least 20 House, Senate and governor races. “Fox’s dramatic ads are very effective with suburban voters, seniors and parents,” the paper said, referring to the comments of Evan Tracey of the non-partisan Campaign Media Analysis Group. “It puts the Republicans on the wrong side of hope.” Limbaugh quickly had to backpedal and apologize to the popular actor for his callous comment. But this exchange quickly blew up into a national issue. Fox ended up providing support to other Democrats in close races. That included Democrat Benjamin Cardin, running for US Senate in Maryland. Cardin’s opponent, Republican Michael Steele, tried to counteract the commercials with a rebuttal from his sister, a physician. The Washington Post says she called the ad “tasteless”. “Putting her hand to her heart — as Fox does in Cardin’s commercial — she then reveals her credentials: She has multiple sclerosis, and ‘I know he cares about me’.” Fox, campaigning in Ohio for Democratic senate-hopeful Sherrod Brown, told the Dayton Daily News, “As you may know, this last week I had a little run-in with a less-than compassionate conservative. I guess I’m not supposed to speak until my symptoms go away. Or maybe I’m just supposed to go away. But I’m not going to go away.” Indeed, he didn’t go away. And neither did most of the candidates he supported. Sherrod Brown won the US Senate seat he sought. So did Benjamin Cardin in Maryland. The stem-cell research measure passed in Missouri. And Democrat Claire McCaskill won a razor-thin victory in that state, helping Democrats secure control of the US Senate. (Not everyone Fox backed was victorious. Democrat Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war veteran in Illinois, lost her bid for a seat in the US House of Representatives.) Stem cells never rose to the top of the heap in most voters’ minds. Exit polls showed that most of the Democratic tidal wave was the result of dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush. Americans deeply oppose the war in Iraq. They perceived Democrats as better able to deal with the domestic economy. As the BBC put it the day after the election, “The Democrats’ success has been due in no small part to their ability to appeal to voters on issues that matter to them at home, and a perception that the Republican Congress has been ineffective and scandalridden.” Yet stem cells could well have helped McCaskill squeeze out a few desperately needed votes to oust incumbent Jim Talent. “Some political analysts say his half-hearted rejection of the [stem-cell ballot] measure helped Ms. McCaskill,” the New York Times reported. “Independent and undecided voters make up a tiny sliver of the state’s electorate, and they were largely the focus of Mr. Talent’s and Ms. McCaskill’s campaigns, as each crossed over into the other’s traditional base to find an advantage, however small, with upbeat appeals and personal attacks.” This election is of course not the last word on stem cell politics. Assuming Democrats in congress are able to craft new legislation to expand this research, they still face a formidable obstacle. The man occupying the White House still opposes most of this work, and he has the power of the veto.