Need help: 1) Anti-war families, 2) Cuban GOPer motives

[Sapphocrat]

Hi, folks. Long time, no anything, here or anywhere else. No excuses, other than that I've been up to my eyeballs in two projects (one political, and one that will, I hope, result in some much-needed income after 3.5+ years' unemployment). In short, I've dropped everything but these two projects, as both must be finished, for obviously-immediate reasons.

So please forgive my sudden appearance after such a long absence -- I don't need to convince anyone that we're in the crux of a most desperate moment in history, and I am doing everything my power to work the Kerry vote. Thus, niceties are gravy.

This is where I need help -- the kind of help I know only DUers can provide -- and I need it FAST:

Request #1 -- easy: Can someone PLEASE give me the link to the largest/most vocal anti-war "war families" site on the Web? I cannot for the life of me remember the name, and my Googling is turning up a lot of crap. I don't have time to waste all night looking for it (see Request #2 for reason).

Request #2 -- harder, but MUCH more important than Request #1: I am going to New York City Saturday night (less than 48 hours from now, as I write this). A good friend of my sister's is -- to my shock and dismay -- a committed * voter. I found this out when I was on the phone with my sis and this friend tonight... and (to make a long story short) I was cool, but tried to get out of her exactly WHY she was determined to vote for *.

She had no reason to give me (and felt "sad," said my sis, when I reminded her that * was in favor of "codifying" me into second-class citizenship for life -- among many other * sins), so I jokingly said, "Well, tell her she's got 48 hours to come up with just ONE reason she's voting for *."

The only reason I can possibly imagine she would vote for Pretzel Boy is the fact that she is Cuban. DO NOT flame me for this -- it is NOT a racist/ethnic remark -- we all now by now that many (not all, but many) Cuban-Americans are generally -- and blindly -- pro-Bush, due to the sole fact that the Repukes take such a hard line on Castro.

I am GUESSING that her blind loyalty to the GOP is influenced by friends and family -- when in truth, she has no good reason to support Junior. (She's not rich, she IS a woman, she DOES belong to a minority group... and thinking about the anti-gay-immigration laws that keep foreigncorrespondent and me 8,000 miles apart actually makes her cry.)

So my question is this: Can anyone give me any anti-W talking points I can use specifically with a Cuban-American -- who is VERY socially liberal, and would NOT benefit from any */Reaganomic policies?

As I said, my gut is telling me that her loyalty to * is the result of peer/family pressure.

In the end, it almost doesn't matter who she votes for -- this is Manhattan we're talking about, and New York is a lock for Kerry. BUT if I can change ONE MIND, and help add ONE MORE VOTE for Kerry, then I will feel that I have made another major accomplishment,*** in the only way (i.e., face-to-face) available to me.

Can anyone give me some insight, and some tips? Yes, we are friends (not close, but very friendly), and I believe she will listen to me. But I also believe there is something I may overlook here.

Again, please don't flame. I'm not coming down on Cuban-Americans -- I'm just acknowledging the fact that Cuban-Americans voted overwhelmingly in favor of * -- and if there is some tiny gem of insight I can glean that may help me convince just one more person to switch, I need it. Badly.

Thank you, DUers. I KNOW I can count on you. And while you probably won't hear back from me with well-deserved thanks before I get on (shudder) my plane Saturday (I HATE FLYING!), I will let you know how the showdown went.

I know: It's only one person... in a city of 8 million... in a nation of 275 million... but it's all about reaching them one at a time, isn't it?

And once you bring one of the Dark Side into the light, it spreads.

Help me, DUers.

My eternal gratitude,

Sapph


*** First two major accomplishments this year: Some of you may remember me talking about my born-again (read: lost-cause) cousin in Idaho, who voted for * in 2000, and couldn't handle discussing any issue deeper than the choice between competing brands of fabric softener. You may also remember me mentioning my eldest sister -- another born-again (to the shock of my liberal-Catholic family) -- who also voted for * in '00. Well, honeys, I HAVE been working, as hard as I can -- and I'm delighted to report that BOTH my eldest sister AND my Idaho cousin have pledged their votes for KERRY! :)

I'm trying, I swear.