Support for War Wanes Among Military Families Facing Redeployment

[papau]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A175-2004Jul20.html

A Shrinking Base Support for War Wanes Among Military Families Facing Redeployment

By Hanna Rosin Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 21, 2004; Page C01


HINESVILLE, Ga.

Yes, sir, this is Bush country: Real pit barbecues, yellow ribbons on church doors, wild boar in the woods. Fort Stewart 10 minutes away. And one teenage party loyalist greeting guests for his mother's Party for the President, on National Party for the President Day, a boy with impeccable manners who, when peppered with questions by the adults in the living room, blurts out things such as "Condi Rice speaks, like, three languages!"

So why does hostess Michele Bourque sound as defensive as if she were living in Berkeley?

"There's just so much negativity around," she says, explaining her decision to host this party. "There's not a lot of positive affirmation about why George W. Bush should be president. We just want to let people know, he's not as bad as people think."<snip>

"Kerry, Kerry, Kerry," says one of the guests, Stacie Young. "These young guys in the squad say, 'I'm voting for Kerry,' " she says, meaning the guys who serve with her husband. "And I say, 'Why would you do that? Vote for your kids! Vote for your security!' "<snip>

[aden_nak]

1. Note to Stacie Young

Note to Stacie Young:

Your perception that you have a better understanding of national security than your husband's squadmates is staggering in both its arrogance and its naivete.

[Jo March]

2. My sis - deployed 2 times, voting Bush

She's been in Desert Shield/Storm and then to Afghanistan and then to Iraq. The last two times she's had to leave her toddler son with my mom.

And yet, she's voting Bush.

The ignorance astounds me. I am the only liberal in my family. I think that I was switched at birth.

[qazplm]

3. I dont think it's necessarily ignorance

I think it's a desperate hope that a president wouldnt make a mistake of this magnitude among some people. It would shatter the security they crave so much.

They blindly trust the president because the alternative is too much for them to handle.

That to me is why very religious people are also the ones to very much support the president, the whole blind faith aspect.

[faithnotgreed]

5. welcome to du! i know how just how you feel. think i was switched too

[samsingh]

4. great slogan for the presidency

bush is not as bad as people think.

it says it all.