WP,pg1: 'Mortgage Moms' May Star in Midterm Vote

[DeepModem Mom]

'Mortgage Moms' May Star in Midterm Vote
With Wages Stagnant and Debt Growing, Democrats See an Opportunity
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 5, 2006; Page A01

....At first glance, the economy's role in this year's midterm elections is a puzzle. Economic growth and unemployment are at levels that in past years would have been a clear political asset for the party in power.

But one layer down in the statistics, the answer is more clear. Flat wages and rising debt nationally have converged to leave millions of middle-class households feeling acutely vulnerable to bumps in their financial planning. The most visible of these are rising energy prices and a softening housing market.

A less obvious but powerful variable is the interest paid by people carrying credit card debt or mortgages whose monthly payments vary with interest rates. People buffeted by these trends have given rise to a new and volatile voting block....

***

Every election cycle has its own important set of undecided, or swing, voters. In 2000, it was the "soccer moms," targeted by both parties with appeals based on education and quality-of-life concerns. In 2004, it was the security moms, normally Democratic-trending women whose concerns about terrorism helped give Bush his margin of victory.

This year could mark the emergence of what might be called mortgage moms -- voters whose sense of well-being is freighted with anxiety about their families' financial squeeze. Democrats are betting that this factor is strong enough to trump security or cultural values issues....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090401108.html

[dorktv]

1. Ugh, I hate it when they label women as only moms.

[MADem]

3. Soccer Moms, Security Moms...it does seem like an insulting theme NT

[Art_from_Ark]

4. It's irritating, to say the least

Don't forget "NASCAR dads" :banghead:

[Arugula Latte]

17. ... and "office park dads" ....

remember those?

[dorktv]

22. no, when was this?

[Arugula Latte]

23. That was 2002 ... Here is one link

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/08/13/MN173619.DTL

[dorktv]

25. Thanks!

[Ravenseye]

10. That's not what they're doing

They're specifically talking about mothers. Single people and married people with no kids have different responsibilities, needs, and worries. When they talk about the 'soccer mom' or 'security mom' or whatever they're talking about married women with kids. They're not labelling women as only moms, they're just talking about a specific group of Women who have related worries and responsibilities.

A married 35 year old woman with 2 kids a mortgage and 2 car payments, generally will have different priorities than a single 18 year old woman, just as a 35 year old man with 2 kids a mortgage and 2 car payments will have different priorities than a single 18 year old. Not to mention they're both more likely to vote.

[dorktv]

21. It is being lazy since not all moms are the same or will have the same

views. A single mom is different then a married mom...a wealthy mom is different then a poor mom.

Also it just seems to reduce us to our uteruses again. It was not until 2004 did we hear about NASCAR dads...before it was blue collar working men or white collar managers (in the case of my dad who is a NASCAR fan and executive.) Never really reduced them to some single term that gets switched out as Soccer-Security...Mom.

[spooky3]

24. good points--and is it any wonder why people

who are not in traditional families feel alienated and don't vote as often, when candidates & pundits consistently treat them as missing persons? As those persons may feel, why would they take the time and trouble to get out and vote, if none of the available candidates is addressing their concerns or even speaking about those concerns?

Candidates/pundits need to take a good long look at what's the cause and what's the effect here.

[dorktv]

27. There are a few universals...all people are worried about their

current economic forcast, all people are worried about health care, all people are worried about Iraq...but there are some localized stuff that segments care about only.

To say that only "Mortgage Moms" care about the economy is completely wrong.

[spooky3]

29. I don't know if I would go so far as to say "all"

I agree that it is wrong to say that only this demog. group or that cares about the economy, etc.

But I think it also is wrong to focus on one group rather than be inclusive of others, and I think it is wrong to trivialize the concerns that a given group may have simply because it is not perceived to be in the majority. There are many ways in which people who are in non-traditional living arrangements, for example, such as singles/divorced/widowed, are treated in discriminatory ways or simply ignored. This group, for example, is more than 40% of the adult population. Yet a political candidate hardly stands a chance of being elected if s/he can't produce a campaign photo showing him/her surrounded by a happy traditional family. It should come as no surprise that people who are treated as members of outgroups by all of the candidates that they are given to choose from, will simply stay home rather than vote.

[dorktv]

30. As a single woman candidate, who lives in a state with a single

woman governor, I find it odd you characterize us candidates as having to show ourselves with traditional families. My governor only had a few things with her dad back in 2002 with nothing in the current campaign and otherwise did not used her family. I personally think less of a candidate that does.

Candidates should simply state what they want to do, what they believe and then stick to it. Maybe modify the message a little for the gardening club rather then the machinist union workers but being simple and direct generally does more then catering to one segment of the population.

[TomInTib]

2. The ARMs are gonna kill them....

The new 'Soccer Moms"

People fucked beyond belief on their mortgages.

Bobby Jack Perry and the Troll Brothers are about to reap what they did sow..

[Sherman A1]

5. We can only hope

That the "Mortgage Moms' get to the polls between working several jobs, worrying about Security and Soccer?

[ClevelandSportsCurse]

6. They wanted to pretend and live like they were rich...

Owning a big suburban house, driving a big SUV, and voting Republican. They wanted to feel like they were important and part of the club. Now it's all coming back to bite them in the ass. Boo hoo hoo.

Now they might come around and vote Democrat. But not for the right reasons. Will they learn their lesson about materialism and living within their means? Or will they jump at the first chance to vote Republican again once the Democrats improve economic conditions?

[FrenchieCat]

7. I disagree with part of what is said in this article....

Democrats are betting that this factor is strong enough to trump security or cultural values issues....

Security issue as well as "real" family values are Democrats' strong suit.

The authors here are just being subliminal in repeating that same ass tired line about Democrats' being weak on Security and Values.

They must be made of glass....cause I can see right through these "pundits".

[CTyankee]

20. I'd love to believe that BUT

my son in law is a political consultant with a Democratic consulting firm in Boston working with John Kerry on his campaigns going way back. My SIL does focus groups all around the country. He just shakes his head and says "They're still drinking the kool aid," meaning voters who still say Repubs are tougher on terror than Dems.

I truly think that part of it is that the Repubs are so damn repulsive and ugly, people think they've gotta be tougher. We just have to harp on the fact that for all their "toughness" the Repubs sure haven't done much in the way of making us more secure. And it's not getting better. We have to say it and say it and say it.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

8. Ah, geez, another so-called "D" trashing women's privacy rights...

Democrats here typically do not stress liberalism. Lucas, for instance, opposes abortion rights and gun-control measures.

:eyes: MKJ

[Anakin Skywalker]

28. Here Where?

I'm sorry. I'm not following.

[WCGreen]

9. How about the soccer moms smoking pot in the Mini Van....

Or maybe Joe Sixpack Abs....


Jesus H. Christ, they just don't stop with the crazy bullshit....

[blondeatlast]

11. These women are PRECISELY why the Dems need core core economic, social,

and diplomatic policy. call it a "perpetual platform."

If the Dems had that, we'd not have "soccer/security/mortgage moms."

We'd have a BASE as strong as the Religious Right.

And yes, I too call bullshit on this new label. Why are we isolating a group that should be ours from the get-go?

[Doctor_J]

12. "trump security"

as if Resident Flight Suit and Shotgun Dick have somehow increased security. Built-in Rove talking point alert.

[elehhhhna]

13. I SEE DEBT PEOPLE

[Cerridwen]

16. .

:spray:

Thanks for the giggle.

:D

[SteppingRazor]

14. Oy... must every vote come down to a pithily named demographic?

soccer moms, security moms, NASCAR dads, and now this... is this really the best way to look at election returns?

[LostInAnomie]

19. That's exactly what I was thinking.

Every two years the media creates a new group of people the politicians are supposed to be "on the watch for." They give the groups intense focus and say how they are going to tip the balance of the elections one way or the other. Then after the group of people vote the exact same way that they always do the media does a mea culpa and says that the "soccer moms", "nascar dads", "security moms", or "mortgage moms" vote didn't actually have much of an effect. Then they bring it up again two years later.

[thoughttheater]

15. Mom's Mad...Somebody's In Big Trouble!

If soccer, security, and now mortgage moms are all angry; someone better look out. While the GOP plans to invoke national security and the fear of terrorism, issues that worked well in 2002 and 2004, it is hard to imagine they would be sufficient to overcome what holds the most weight with moms, the economic security of their own families.

Read more here:

www.thoughttheater.com

[flamin lib]

18. First, when mamma's not happy, nobody's happy.

Second, unemployment is NOT under 5%. The Bush administration changed the method of measurement from the Payroll stats to the Household stats. That reduced the number of data points to 1/600th of the old way and the Household method includes all sorts of "employment" not counted in the Payroll method.

They do what they always do: Change the rules.

Like wetlands. To show an increase in wetlands they defined new areas as "wetlands" including golf course water hazards and mining pits (called "desert wetlands" because nothing will live there).

[Anakin Skywalker]

26. What about Dead-Beat Dads?

Who do they vote for?

I love the terms that these pundits use. This mom, that mom, this dad, that dad.