War turns southern women away from GOP

[Shakespeare]

President Bush's once-solid relationship with Southern women is on the rocks. "I think history will show him to be the worst president since Ulysses S. Grant," said Barbara Knight, a self-described Republican since birth and the mother of three. "He's been an embarrassment."

In the heart of Dixie, comparisons to Grant, a symbol of the Union, is the worst sort of insult, especially from a Macon woman who voted for Bush in 2000 but turned away in 2004.

In recent years, Southern women have been some of Bush's biggest fans, defying the traditional gender gap in which women have preferred Democrats to Republicans. Bush secured a second term due in large part to support from 54 percent of Southern female voters while women nationally favored Democrat
John Kerry, 51-48 percent.

Republicans on the ballot this November have reason to worry. A recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that three out of five Southern women surveyed said they planned to vote for a Democrat in the midterm elections. With control of the Senate and House in the balance, such a seismic shift could have dire consequences for the GOP.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060907/ap_on_re_us/southern_women

[Why Syzygy]

1. Not any more dire consequences

than they have given us. This is Bush's base >
"There are some people, and I'm one of them, that believe George Bush was placed where he is by the Lord," Tomanio said. "I don't care how he governs, I will support him. I'm a Republican through and through."

[Bhaisahab]

4. of all the people in the united states...

...why would god choose a guy like bush to be president? what kind of a god does this Tomanio believe in?

*shaking my head in disbelief*

[Syrinx]

5. "I Don't Care How He Governs"

It's like she's rooting for her team, and doesn't care about anything but who wins.

In fairness, not all these people live down south, but I admit we have more than our fair share of them.

My head is shaking too.

[ClintonTyree]

7. How callous a remark is that?

"I don't care how he governs". :eyes: There were many people in Germany who didn't care how Hitler governed either. Appeasers, never looking past the tip of their own nose. They're now called "war criminals", lady. She might want to think her position through again. But these people DON'T think, that's the entire problem. :grr:

[mitchum]

30. "He hates the same people I hate" is what she is really saying

[Mythsaje]

6. Translation:

"I'm dumber than a bag of stupid and I like it that way."

Sheesh.

[calimary]

10. LOL!

"I'm dumber than a bag of stupid and I like it that way"! That one goes into my good quotes file, Mythsaje!

[Mythsaje]

25. Yup.

Sharp as a cotton ball. :D

[K8-EEE]

2. 3 out of 5! Well, All Right....

They're not to fast on the uptake apparently but at least the SEE they are not getting what they were promised! Betcha their husbands are "staying the course," huh? It's macho to send people to war after all..

[lvx35]

3. May they follow the Dixie chicks...

...for the moral guidance they need. Dixie Chicks have been way ahead of the curve on most issues; they are smart, inspired southern women.

[mcscajun]

8. Why so many posts focusing on the negative here?

We've got this:

"...three out of five Southern women surveyed said they planned to vote for a Democrat in the midterm elections."

Three out of Five! This is huge! Focus on the positive here, Not the Negative.

and this:
"I think history will show him to be the worst president since Ulysses S. Grant," said Barbara Knight, a self-described Republican since birth and the mother of three. "He's been an embarrassment." In the heart of Dixie, comparisons to Grant, a symbol of the Union, is the worst sort of insult, especially from a Macon woman who voted for Bush in 2000 but turned away in 2004.

Goodness! I've only been willing to concede worst since Harding. (Yes, I know (and I agree) he's the Worst. President. Ever. but until Bush came along, Harding had that title. This woman reaches back further to the worst President the South can imagine.)

We've got a mjaority, it seems, of the women in the South waking up! This is significant. Stop focusing on the idiots who think he's the chosen of their Lord.

[jamesinca]

9. lets see, women are 52% of the population

so 60% of the 52%, is 31.2% of the vote. If southern men, who should make up 48% of the population, split 60% republican then that is 28.8% of the vote. This will come out to a 50.4% to 49.6% Democrat advantage. I would like to see a few southern seats wash away unexpectedly from the republicans.

[Bridget Burke]

11. Some DU'ers think criticizing all Southerners is more important....

Than discovering more Southerners are finally waking up.

[rudy23]

14. Democrats would run the world if not for the South-bashing

Or rural condescension. People down here will vote for a Republican who's policies directly screw them, over a Democrat who comes off as looking down on them.

[Nikki Stone 1]

20. Remember it was the South that gave us the Bill of Rights.

George Mason, Virginian, author of the first ten amendments. The South wouldn't sign the Constitution without them. We owe a lot of our freedoms to the South.

[Why Syzygy]

23. I live in the South

This isn't about the SOUTH. It is about zombies.

[mitchum]

29. Yes. You don't get any more "southern woman" than my mother...

and she has always hated that loathsome sonofabitch.
You are right. It is not about the south, but about zombies. And fanatics.

[Why Syzygy]

41. My son is

a flyer. That's all I'm gonna say. Six years ago, he said Gw was the man due to Chrisitanity.

I never shut up. Last week, I said people are PISSED OFF! .. He said, and they should be.
That was music to my ears.

Who doesn't know? The Lord Jesus, take me away crowd. Even some of them. are f*cking fed up.

So Why do we tarry? Would Lord Jesus tarry? That is what they would have us believe. So their Lord and Master, Goerge Fucking Walker Bush gets to destroy the planet before hand?

I want them burned at the stake for treason. Jeezus ain't here yet. Git it? Till he comes to claim his rule, we are in charge.

*caution* full moon amd rant at large

[Lone_Star_Dem]

31. Zombies is a good description

Masses of mindless zombies driven by little more than their own ignorance and hatreds.

Disclaimer: This is not south bashing, but rather bashing of the ignorant bush voters who roam the lands in my area.

[Why Syzygy]

39. Absolutely.

How people got South is (bad) from this, I'll never spend a moment trying to figure out.

It is about mindless people who give no shit for the world at large. They are a dangerous breed.

Gw fits the description, so no surprise that he promulgates it.

Make 'em stupid . like me. is his motto.

They don't call him chimp for nuthin. However. That is an insult to our primal ancestors.

He is totally below any known life form known on this beautiful planet. Let's call him oooze.

.. which is even giving him grace ..


I wouldn't even denote black hole to his majesty. He is vapor. He is noxious gas. Open the windows.

There are no words to convey my disdain.

[heliarc]

43. Exactly right.

I live in Los Angeles, CA the state that is supposedly so far left. We have a moron Repug for a Governor, a whole lot of wasteful freeways, and a whole county of fascists (Orange County), that are sucking the life out of the California working class, and spending all our exchange value on Mega Churches, and charter schools. Hummers with W stickers, we got it all. The south ain't the only place that breeds zombies. Sometimes I listen to NPR and I think the complacency is going to make me scream. This is one of my biggest problems with NPR. For the most part they treat the south like its an exotic wonderland, and conversely treat New York and LA like they are bright shining examples of intellectual purity simply by not addressing themselves with the same attention and curiosity. The difference is subtle sometimes between the portrayals, and I'm exaggerating a little, but its toxic as hell.

[Renew Deal]

21. Many would argue that Buchanan holds the title

prior to Bush of Worst President Ever. History faults him for letting the union fall apart by doing nothing about it's larger problems.

[Why Syzygy]

22. I think it is significant

that the excuse for those still is his fold in unfounded and egregious.

Can you make your point without downing DUers?

[mcscajun]

33. I'm not trying to "down" DUers. It just bums me out when I see

the focus on the 2/5th rather than the 3/5th. This is a positive development. I'm trying to Raise spirits more than criticize. Let's look on the bright side. We get SO little of it.

Sure, there's more folks out there that desperately need waking up, but hey! We take our new recruits one at a time if we can, the more, the merrier, I say.

and 3/5th is an improvement. :)

[Anakin Skywalker]

36. Sorry. It's just that I

have it in for stupid people (I'm NOT referring to any particular demographic/geographic group, but ALL Repukes), OK? They are who have kept Shrub in power since 2000 and I will NEVER FORGIVE them.

[aaronbees]

40. I'm so with you on focusing on the positive...

It really perplexes me why DUers would nitpick this when it's clear things are working in the Dems favor here and we're making inroads. I mean, isn't that the point of all this? Of being here and posting and getting active? That means, of course, we have some work to do to get folks solidly Dem when the fall elections roll around. I see this is as a great opportunity to build some common ground with people who've seen the light. And it's in the exact region where it needs to happen, too, in my opinion.

[Peace Patriot]

12. If you base your political commentary on an election in which 80% of the

votes were "counted" by two private corporations, one of them headed by a Bush-Cheney campaign chair and major fundraiser, and the other, a spinoff of the first, initially funded by a rightwing billionaire who also gave one million dollars to an extremist 'christian group' that touts the death penalty for homosexuals, and the votes were all "counted" with TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, and virtually no audit/recount controls--in an electronic voting scam designed by the biggest crooks in Congress, Tom Delay and Bob Ney, to "re-elect" Bush and Bushites; and, if you further consult exit polls that the war profiteering corporate news monopolies, acting in concert on election night, FALSIFIED to FIT the results of the Republican electronic voting corporations' secret formulae, and later LIED that the original exit polls were wrong (Bush lost) because Bushites are shy people and didn't want anybody to know they were voting for Bush, and so wouldn't admit it to pollsters, a lie for which there is zero evidence (and much evidence to the contrary)...

...then you are going to come up with some screwy commentary that southern and other conservative women only just now realized that Bush is an asshole.

Any political commentary that silently accepts these fraudulent and non-transparent election conditions will lead you astray one way or another--in this case, it is leading us to expect a different outcome, and to believe that we have a healthy, normal political system, in which elections will reflect the will of the people. Then, when Bushites are once again Diebolded into office, they will consult Karl Rove's "talking points" and tell you that it must have been gay marriage, or brown immigrants, or terra-terra-terra that caused this miraculous Bushite "comeback victory."

----------------------------------------

Throw Diebold, ES&S and all election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW! Bust the Machines--Vote by Absentee Ballot this November! FLOOD election officials with MOUNTAINS of paper Absentee Ballot votes, and FORCE reform NOW!

[No Exit]

13. I always enjoyed asking southern male & female Shrub supporters,

"So, how does it feel to be a strong supporter of the same party that gave the south reconstruction?"

Always good for a laugh. And--oh, looky!--the repukes are doing the same thing for Iraq that they did for the post-Civil-War south!

The other fun angle was to call the Shrub The Kennebunkport Cowboy... "Yes, Virginia, you see, your precious 'Texan' President Bush is actually a YANKEE." :wow:

[KamaAina]

27. Since Katrina, the repukes are doing the same thing for La. and Miss.

that they once did for -- La. and Miss. :grr:

[No Exit]

38. Yup--Jacob Wilkerson's face should be superimposed onto

the face of every repuke candidate in every southern state.

Carpetbags (made in China) are selling like hotcakes these days.

[flaminbats]

15. southern women are the active ones where I live..

for the past decade my local Democratic Party never met, it never ran candidates, and it didn't even appear to exist!

This all changed a couple of weeks ago. Our local party now meets weekly, it invites local candidates to come speak on the issues, and most importantly..all of these local, rural Democrats are enraged at Bush! At least 2/3's of our group are women, baby boomers and older. Many of them voted for Bush in 2000, but now regret doing this because of Iraq. Others voted for him, but are disgusted at his opposition to stem cell research. All of them have relatives or close friends with major health problems, but who have lost their coverage or are in debt because of these problems. Now that Bush will not even allow those with expensive health problems to declare bankruptcy, there is no other place for these people to go!

Many of these southern women are conservative, but they are also kind and politically active. This is our party's chance of winning back Congress and holding it! Southern women turned against Democrats in the 90's mainly because no action was taken on healthcare reform. I knew many southern women who blamed southern Democrats in Congress for being pawns of the insurance companies and other special interests, but for not having the courage to take action. Now they feel this way about Republicans..viewing them as pawns of big oil and insurance companies!

This is a golden opportunity for our party, we can win this election if we try ;)

[Breeze54]

16. "He's been an embarrassment." said Barbara Knight,

She can say THAT again!!! :rofl: I'm really glad to read this!!
These Women/Moms may have kids approaching the 'draft' age and are getting nervous! :scared:
Good! It's about frigging time!! I hope this spreads all acoss the bible belt!

:kick: and Recommended! ;)

[demo dutch]

17. They dislike GW* but do they really dislike all their local republicans!

We'll see.. mind you...many Southern women have kids in Iraq

[bluestateguy]

18. Oakland A's!!!!!!!

nt

[Miss Chybil]

19. Alrighty then! We're finally getting what we want. People are waking up!

:woohoo:

On edit: Meant to reply to OP.

[rocktivity]

24. I think there is one southern woman in particular to thank for this

KATRINA.

:headbang:
rocknation

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. In the heart of Dixie, comparisons to Grant...is the worst sort of insult

Really?

I'd like some southern DUer input here.

[Breeze54]

28. Me too!

I'd like to know what they think also! ;)

[MasonJar]

32. I am a "Southern woman" and I have fought against this nabob

from day one. There are lots of us in Kentucky, believe me.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. Do you believe that comparing Dumbyass to Grant is

the gravest sort of insult?

I get the sense that some people WANT us to keep fighting the Civil War...

[Why Syzygy]

42. Isn't that the truth

.. Was thinking while driving today.. after reading this thread. why oh why are we still divided. Are we not the UNITED?
HOW can we expect Ira*q . 3 nations under Allah . to join? We can't do it?

Why pit north again south? Isn't that rather childish and like 200 years ago? The Hatfield's and McCoy's and all? Don't make me fight my northern neighbors. I love em. They are a little whacked, as they think I am. I am so sick of this divide. It is history, people. You live your life, we live ours. Look up "progressive". It doesn't include territorial skirmishes.

So lame.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

44. I get that feeling also sometimes

Not from what I see where I live and have lived, but from people who don't live here and want to project their beliefs of what we're like upon us.

When I lived in Georgia (back in the early 90's) what I saw then for the most part were the very rural people who still used it as a wedge for their racism. It was rare and usually came from someone who needed a bath and a toothbrush. I'm not saying they were the only racist, but they were the ones who seemed to still invoke the Civil War.

[Anakin Skywalker]

35. Read the Last Paragraph

Very heartening. NOT!

Every time I read a quote from some religious wingnut who claims that Shrub is "a man of God" (this is not a quote from this particular article, but one that was commonly found in others) or that "the Lord" made Shrub a leader, it totally disgusts me.

If the Son of a Bitch wasn't ruling, I'd be laughing. But such as it as, I am mad as hell.

[HockeyMom]

37. If Iraq didn't, then Katrina sealed it

I worked with a woman who was from NO. Before Karina, all she talked about was what a good Christian man Bush was. After she went back home to help with the clean up, you couldn't say the name * in front of her.