What kind of person would actually vote to keep Republicans in power?

[ck4829]

If you're voting to continue having the do-nothing and ultra-corrupt GOP have a majority in Congress, then you are Evil and/or Stupid.

If you don't want to vote for Democrats, that fine, but the Republicans?

Have you heard how they insult their base, the Christian Right?

Republican Voter Motto in 06 - "Long live Corruption!"

[leftofthedial]

1. two kinds of people still support repukes

1. criminal co-conspirators

2. the mentally ill

[Hugin]

4. Point of order...

There are many mentally ill people who vote as Democrats.

[leftofthedial]

17. squares and rectangles

[onenote]

8. that attitude isn't going to help Democrats win elections

Look, I've never voted for a repub in my life. And I know a lot of repubs that are unhappy with their party now and are near the tipping point for defecting. But some folks here at DU seem to believe that everyone already should think exactly the way they do or else thy're criminal or crazy. Well, if thats the case, there are a lot of crazy and/or criminal people out there. They might not approve of the job chimpy is doing, they might not support the war, but they are trying to decide whether to vote for their local congresscritter or senator or for a Democrat.

I've seen a lot of internal polling by Democrats lately and there are still a lot of close races (and these aren't "Diebold" polls). I sure hope the folks doing the phone banks and door to door canvassing aren't conveying the attitude that if you don't vote for a Democrat you must be crazy or a criminal.

[leftofthedial]

18. I stand by what I said

the truth has become obvious to anyone still in possession of their faculties.

[SpreadItAround]

2. Unfortunately 30-40% of people still approve of the job Bush is doing

These are the people who will vote GOP no matter what.

I saw a news story the other day about religion and the elections and a pastor said that he's just going to hold his nose and vote Republican this November because the alternative is worse.

Worse?

Argh, this is what we are up against, blind faith.

[Stargleamer]

3. A Lot of People have to like continuous tax cuts. . .

for the wealthy. It's been a windfall since * was installed.

[greeneyedboy]

5. people who are not "detail-oriented" (kind way of describing them)

i could see my grandparents voting GOP again,
1) out of habit & a sense of identity
2) because they think GWB is "nice". translation: they don't have to read about fellatio these days because blood and guts and unemployment are taking up all the ink in the newspaper
3) because they are not political junkies and their eyes glaze over when they start reading about scandals. it becomes easy to dismiss ALL reporting as biased or boring, and once you dismiss the facts, you're back to #1 above--you hated FDR and you were uncomfortable with sex in the news in the 90s, so what the heck?
4) because their pastors tell them to

Predatorgate is the one thing that might get them to stay home instead.

[Bill McBlueState]

13. that's a lot of it

You mention older people and FDR, but this is present in the younger generations too. For people who grew up in the 70's and 80's, they have this vague idea that Republicans support small government. They like how that sounds, and they haven't been paying enough attention to see what kind of government we actually get when Republicans are in charge, so they keep voting R.

[greeneyedboy]

19. yes. i thought nobody could blow up the deficit more than Reagan

but i was wrong, wrong, wrong!

[electron_blue]

6. The selfish

[SpreadItAround]

7. Totally, like the morons who like Bush because gas prices are going down

[greeneyedboy]

20. don't forget that cheesy $300 check from the IRS

to make us think our taxes were going lower.
hello, school gets more expensive, gas gets more expensive, blood and billions being pissed away in Iraq and Afghanistan, jobs get scarcer and less pleasant = the biggest tax hike in history IMO.

[slackmaster]

9. The kind of person who believes people can be lumped into "kinds"

In reality, most people choose their political views Chinese Restaurant Style - One from Column A, two from Column B, with five or more you get egg roll.

[kimmerspixelated]

10. The richies

who have no conscience about what happens to their grandchildren, and those macho idiots with the dangling scrotum balls hanging off the trailer hitch of their jacked up monster on wheels truck! They like W cuz they think it's like having a cowboy for prez!

[LSparkle]

12. Rich and selfish

Those two types ususally go together anyway ...

[indepat]

11. Brainwashed religious zealots, other true-believers, the unbelievably

ignorant, and those who generally prefer a corporatist theological totalitarian police state in which one man, if it's their man, is the decider and decides all. It's fu*k this Republic, f*ck its Constitution, *uck the land of the free and home of the brave, fuc* the rule of law and the promote the general welfare doctrine.

[C_U_L8R]

14. Self Absorbed Conservatives

don't care about anyone but themselves

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

15. With All Due Respect, I'm Unsure Employing Grade School Taunting Will Work

I would think we have much better things to run on than merely declaring "If you vote for a republican you're a big dummy!" or "If you don't vote for the Dem's you're eeeeevil".

There are many, many voters out there who may not vote for Dems not because they are stupid or evil, but because they merely have not yet been convinced enough that voting for Democrats are in their best interest. Now granted, we know that it is, and we are far more informed of political facts than many of them, but we can't demand or expect that they all spend countless hours online searching for their news like we do either. We just simply need to keep getting the message out the best that we can and informing as many voters as possible as to the truth. But I don't think it's accurate nor valuable to call the voters who don't vote for our side stupid or evil. Kinda childish to do so in my opinion.

[LeftishBrit]

16. Not necessarily evil or stupid..

At least judging from British Tory voters, I would guess that they include:

(1) People whose parents and grandparents voted Republican, and just take it for granted that's what you do. May be politically unthinking, but not necessarily stupid in other ways.

(2) Those who are either rich or think they may be one day, and don't want to pay too much in taxes.

(3) Those who have a sentimental attachment to tradition and 'the good old days', and are distrustful of change; and think that it's safest to vote for a conservative party.

(4) Those who have been filled with fear of terrorism, and think that a 'strong leader' will reduce that danger.

(5) Those who have had negative experiences with particular Democrats, and think Republicans might be better.

(6) (Specifically in America): Those who've been brainwashed by religious organizations into thinking it's their religious duty to vote for a conservative leader.

And then there will be the ones who are just plain evil or stupid, e.g. those with a racist agenda. But I don't think everyone who votes for a conservative party is necessarily a bad person.

By the way, I would never vote Conservative, much less for a Bush-Republican.

[geniph]

21. The majority of voters still don't vote for a PARTY

they vote for a PERSON. They think they know Joe or Jane Legislator - even if they've never met them - based on the impressions they've formed from a number of sources - mailings, what their neighbors say, what TV news says about them, etc.

Most incumbents win because, to succeed in politics, you have to have at least some skill in making people like you enough to vote for YOU. Not your party. YOU. An incumbent has to do some pretty stupid things - or get caught on the crest of a wave of change - to lose.

I'm hoping for the wave of change this year, but I don't think it's going to be nearly as overwhelming as some are predicting; I think most people are still, on the whole, reasonably happy with their own legislators. It's everyone else's legislators that they think suck.