"Over the last six months, the
Republican Party has subtly refocused its message on the
environment, an issue that a party strategist Frank Luntz [3] called 'the
single biggest vulnerability for the Republicans and
especially for George Bush' in a memorandum encouraging the
new approach. The Republicans, as the memorandum advised them, have
softened their language to appeal to suburban voters,
speaking out for protecting national parks and forests,
advocating investment in environment technologies and
shifting emphasis to the future rather than the present. ... National environmental groups say the shift has blunted the
edge of Republican attacks. 'They are not playing defense
anymore,' said Kim Haddow, a consultant for the Sierra Club
who has helped counter some Republican advertisements.
'It's like a tennis game. The ball is back in our court,
and we need to spend time and energy educating voters.' "