Editor’s Page

It is always difficult to cover a presidential election in a quarterly magazine, and it hasn’t gotten easier as the election campaign has been steadily extended in time. Still, this is probably the most important election in many decades, and we shall try to address the central issues that the country should be debating-but won’t be if liberals and leftists allow the president’s unprecedented fund-raising and campaign spending to determine the shape of the debate. We begin in this issue with Rogers Smith’s account of the dangerous erosion of civil liberties in the aftermath of 9/11-an especially important article because Smith makes the effort that many liberal and left writers have avoided: to balance the requirements of security and freedom.

We also feature an article by Dylan Otto Krider exposing the ruthless politicization of scientific research by the Bush administration and an article by David Leavitt on how to make the environment the election issue it should be. All these writers are new to Dissent‘s pages. In coming issues, we will carry important pieces about the economy, health care, and education. The readiness of this administration to leave many, many children behind, while pretending that it is committed to all of them, should be a central issue in the election-but, again, it won’t be unless liberals and leftists make it so.

Iraq continues to be a necessary focus for Dissent writers, not only be...