The culture wars may not have ended, but on some fronts the combat has gotten rather quiet. For instance, family values.<\/p>\n
True, David Letterman\u2019s awkward joke about a daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska prompted denunciations of the \u201cmedia elite\u201d\u009d (though it also boosted Mr. Letterman\u2019s ratings).<\/p>\n
But the admissions of extramarital adventures by two Republican stalwarts, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina on Wednesday and Senator John Ensign of Nevada the week before, did not help their party\u2019s cause and stood in dim contrast to President Obama\u2019s recent success in co-opting parts of the conservatives\u2019 cultural agenda \u201d\u201d whether voicing his opposition to gay marriage, or delivering Father\u2019s Day homilies on parenting.<\/p>\n
Still another instance of what may be an emerging politics of accommodation, with both parties seeing the benefits of the center, came earlier this month when Mr. Obama announced his selection of Jim Leach, a former congressman, to head the National Endowment for the Humanities.<\/p>\n