Another canary in the Republican's coal mine?

[Atman]

I've written about my friend, the life-long republican, who has expressed more and more dismay with the Bush regime throughout our relationship, finally casting his first Democratic Party vote in 2004. Ironically, the year an official vote officially ceased to matter. He's told me about his family history of voting Republican because that's what Dad always did, and told the rest of the family to, too.

Jim and I went on a ski/snowboard trip this weekend, and had many hours of drive/lift time to chat about a little bit of everything. One of the things he brought up was his outright disgust and disdain for Bush, and Republicans in general. I mean, he was as angry as any of the "angry liberals" we're always made out to be. It turns out his dad just retired at 70, after 25 years with his company. He received his first pension check...$60. The man's entire pension had been wiped out through various restructurings and business maneuvers that eventually made it more profitable for them to shut down. Dad was hosed.

Then he told me about the company he works for, owned by some polish immigrants. It is a big business by local standards, but a "small business" by SBA/government standards. They make factory machinery (I don't want to be too specific here) which is often installed in other countries. There is a market for only so many of this particular item, so they sell them wherever they can. He said he's in fear now, because his bosses do nothing but bitch about Bush's policies, which basically incentivise them to do less and less work in the United States. Despite all the talk BushCo tells us about small business being so important to the future of America, apparently all his policies are geared toward creating more wealth for BIG business, not family-owned factories like the one in which he works. He is now getting as many hours to work as he wants, only because the company keeps laying off the other employees.

He is pissed. He directly, unabashedly blames George Bush and the republican party for everything wrong in America, including his father's pension and his company's perilous moves toward moving all their manufacturing facilities to China. Despite what you year the talking heads tell us, he didn't try to apply equal blame to Democrats as well as Republicans. He put it squarely on the shoulders of the corrupt GOP.

The important thing to remember about this is that he had NEVER voted Democratic Party in his life, for anything, until Kerry. And he admits it was a protest vote. But what does that tell you, in the realm of common sense, is going on with the rest of the Bush supporters? The largely corporate-backed polling orgs, their own debt owed to BushCo, spew numbers like 40% approval of Bush, but Bush only "won" with basically a 50/50 split in the first place, if you the believe votes were actually counted. So if the hard-core righties like my friend now spit at the mention of W, who does it really leave supporting him? Do militant fundamentalist Christians and big-business corporatist "Bush's Base" really account for 40% of the American population?

I think my friend is a warning of the poisonous air swirling around the GOP. They can use their media machine to tell us that everybody loves them, but they seem to think that we'll never spend time to talking to friends and neighbors, that we'll just trust their bogus polls implicitly. I'm trusting what I hear from my republican friends, and I actually do have quite a few...not a single one has said a positive word about Bush in many months.

Our democratic leaders need to stop being afraid, stop thinking that anything Bush has done is to be emulated in order to win the approval of the people. The people are speaking loud and clear, especially to each other. Pay attention to the canaries in the coal mine, like my friend. Get us out of the mine NOW, don't just send in more miners to see if we're okay.

[SharonAnn]

1. He's actually been thinking about policies and issues and how they

affect him, his family, and his community.

For those who vote on "religious" grounds, we have to find a way to linkto their "religious" perceptions and show how voting Democratic is the appropriate vote.

[Talismom]

2. Beautiful post! Very important message to our leaders and to the

rest of us. It's past time to fight these bastards with everything we've got!

[carolinalady]

3. I have to wonder, however, how much of the hate is personal for

George and Dick? If the Repubs run somebody like McCain, I think a lot of them will return to their party.

[Atman]

5. Especially if we don't give them a realistic alternative

And with that, I'll say nothing else, lest I get locked again.

[mwb970]

7. At least McCain is not a criminal.

I don't agree with him about everything, but he is clearly not slimy and sleazy in the way George & the Dick & all the other Bushies are.

[Atman]

8. The test will be if he is able to stand up to the BFEE

or allow his administration to be a continuation of BFEE's war machine

[stepnw1f]

4. The Dems Need to Take Their Message Directly to People

and not rely on the media. The MSM is GOP owned and gagged

[annabanana]

6. Those who have cheerfully ignored

politics for decades are finally being brought up short.
I expect there are choruses of "WTF!!" going on in small businesses all across the country.
They've been coasting along in the belief that the floor is still firmly under them,
the "true Republicans, the backbone of American capitalism"

It's

artoon hysics ime!

And they are having a Wiley Coyote experience....

[catmandu57]

9. My father in law is about as far to the right as they come

He's a ditto monkey and small businessman, slowly he's coming around. Slowly, he stills spews the hitlery crap, but these days he's been talking angrily about the government.
Not about the monkey boy* yet, but he's not far away, when they lose people like him then there's trouble on the horizon, and I don't think there's anything they could do to get people like him back.
It's not going to take much, the next solid scandal may just push him and millions of others over the edge.
I don't see him ever voting democratic, but I can see him staying home in disgust.

[kentuck]

10. He didn't desert his Party....

Because this is not the Republican Party or the conservatism he has known in the past or been affiliated with.