Some Hitherto Staunch G.O.P. Voters Souring on Iraq
WILMETTE, Ill., May 29 — Through four elections, Debbie Thompson has supported Representative Mark Steven Kirk, a Republican and staunch backer of the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq.
Annette Jacobson, of the North Shore Women for Peace, after a demonstration in Highland Park, Ill. Members of the group, which regularly protests the war in Iraq, say support for their position has grown.
But Ms. Thompson, a mother of two from this affluent suburb of Chicago, says her views on the war have evolved, and she now wants Mr. Kirk to change, too.
“My patience for this war, it’s run out,” said Ms. Thompson, 53. “I think this is the most expensive, stupidest thing ever done. My frustration has reached a level that is so unsettling, something has to be done.”
Though voters here in the 10th Congressional District have elected a Republican to the House for as long as anyone can remember, there is a newfound hostility about the war that is being directed toward Mr. Kirk, who was narrowly re-elected to a fourth term last November.
Nor is Mr. Kirk alone in his struggle to appease increasingly restless constituents. He and 10 other Republicans in Congress recently delivered a warning to President Bush that conditions in Iraq needed to improve soon because public support of the war was crumbling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/us/politics/30swing.html?bl=&_r=1&ei=5087%0A&en=dc81cce01b99827c&ex=1180756800&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print