The Politics of Exclusion

What can the politics of exclusion teach us about elections? It teaches that the little things can and do matter. For example, in 2004 President Bush held a rally in Mankato, Minnesota, where Tim Walz, a 24-year veteran of the National Guard, and two students were removed due to a John Kerry sticker on one of the students' wallets. According to Walz, this event turned out to be one of the most important in his decision to run for the House of Representatives. Two years later,Walz defeated 12-year, 6-term Republican incumbent Rep. Gil Gutknecht in the 2006 elections.

On Monday, he [Walz] attended a new-members reception at the White House, where he met President Bush and political adviser Karl Rove, who was convinced Walz would lose. "He said, 'we had the numbers on you, we thought we had enough, but where did you find the voters?'" Walz said.

The more people you exclude, Karl, the more people who will vote against you, including those who perhaps wouldn't have voted at all.