Mr. Vidak's campaign theme was the bifurcation of California: the coastal liberal elites versus the Valley folks.

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Breivik's second, equally fallacious claim is that Islam's growth in the West has been encouraged by liberal elites as a means to destroy traditional Christian culture.

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Surveys suggest Democrats hold the advantage on the dominant issue this year, so Republicans looked to redirect the anger with base-pleasing swipes at the media and liberal elites.

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