'Waitress moms' key to this year's elections

[xchrom]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/03/MN7G1N1M4J.DTL&type=politics


Waitress Timber Hill points out one of the cafes special dishes to Robert Wytoshek, Wednesday February 1, 2012, at the World Famous Coffee Cup Cafe in the small town of Boulder outside Las Vegas Nevada.

Boulder City, Nev. --

Republican presidential candidates looking to connect with some of the most influential voters of 2012 need look no further than the World Famous Coffee Cup cafe. There, besides a legendary pork chile verde, they'll find the "waitress moms," voters who pundits say could call the shots in this year's elections.

The key voting bloc of white, blue-collar women is represented by hard-working women like Kerry Stevens, 50, who owns the much-loved, small-town restaurant with her husband, Al, 61. For years, she has been a fixture in the kitchen, behind the counter and out front at the tables of the tiny place, which has a reputation so big that it's been featured on the Food Network.

"The people in Washington have never been held to a budget," said Stevens, who is proud and protective of the cafe's female-dominated staff of 18 - some as young as 16 and some grandmothers who have served customers for years. "I've been working since I was 16 years old," she added. "These women have families, and they're struggling. And I don't think any of (the politicians) understand."

Candidates are trolling the state for votes this week before Saturday's GOP caucuses, and nowhere does the voice of the "waitress mom" have more weight than in Nevada, a state with a tourism-driven economy where 300,000 people are employed in the service industry.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/02/MN7G1N1M4J.DTL#ixzz1lVzHkrau

[flexnor]

1. Soccar Moms, NASCAR Dads, Now Waitress Moms

why do we have to decide what group is most important each election?

i thought our highest value was one person, one vote?

[Quantess]

2. Who says "waitress moms" vote republican?

Waitresses are not stupid, you know...

[n2doc]

3. Just the same, uneducated and brainwashed group as ever

Willing to vote against their own interests because that nice looking person in TV told them too...

[Historic NY]

4. They all have fun & pleasure accounts in Swiss Banks too....

where else should they put those big fat tips they get....

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Yes of course, go ahead and vote for Ron Paul because he said he will

end the tip tax.

People are so gullible.

[TwilightGardener]

6. Good Christ, make it stop. Every year some new label.

[kiva]

7. Boulder City is extremely conservative,

so no surprises there. The article is correct, though, that our economy is tourist driven - what's good (economically) for the rest of the country is good for Nevada.

[starroute]

8. A restaurant owner is not a waitress

At least on first glance, this story reads like it's pushing the corporatist line that the interests of the workers are identical to the interests of the bosses -- and that the rest of us should trust the bosses to know what's best for us.

I mean, "proud and protective"? Give me a break.

[xchrom]

9. It's not like these guys own ihop

Or burger king they own A restaurant.

[starroute]

10. That still doesn't mean their interests are the same as the workers

It just burns me when an article that starts with the premise that blue-collar working women will be a key voting group then pivots to focus on small business owners.

And if the restaurant owners are as protective of their staff as the article describes, that makes the situation even more atypical. The average waitress is out there getting sub-minimum wage, depending on tips to make the difference, without sick days or benefits ...

This happy, paternalistic, we're-all-in-it-together line is classic Republican propaganda. It's the Romney claim that except for the very rich and very poor, all Americans are part of one big, hard-working family. And that just isn't true.