Politics & Power Quote by Eleanor Clift

Calling Missouri "ground zero" is less geography than escalation: Eleanor Clift borrows the language of catastrophe to frame the culture war as something that detonates in specific places, with real casualties in policy and daily life. The metaphor does two things at once. It flatters national readers with a clear map of conflict (here is where it’s hottest) while warning that what happens in a “local” statehouse isn’t local at all. Missouri becomes a proxy battlefield where the national argument over abortion gets translated into ordinances, clinic regulations, and political careers.

Clift’s journalistic intent is diagnostic, not neutral. She’s identifying power, not merely opinion: “strong and well organized” signals infrastructure, money, churches, volunteer networks, and disciplined messaging. The subtext is that this isn’t a spontaneous moral uprising; it’s an effective political machine. By saying the “agenda dominates local politics,” she implies asymmetry - opponents may exist, but they’re outmaneuvered, fragmented, or boxed out by electoral realities like gerrymandered districts, low-turnout primaries, and the social cost of dissent in tight-knit communities.

The line also hints at a broader media critique. Coastal narratives often treat culture-war flashpoints as abstract debates; Clift insists they’re won by ground game. Missouri, in this framing, is a case study in how a motivated minority can set the terms of governance, turning “values” into durable policy, and forcing everyone else to argue on their turf.