Trouble, Oh Trouble Can't You See?
The Chimp in Winter

NPR's All Things Considered just had an amazing story on with Linda Wertheimer interviewing a group of independent voters--referred to as Upbeats ("generally optimistic, relatively young, well-educated and prosperous")--in Louisville, Kentucky. After listening to the folks interviewed here (a group that definitely made up the base of Bush's win in 2004)--hint, they're not so upbeat about the President any more due to the war as well as domestic issues and worries over kow-towing to the fundamentalist Religious Right--the Republican party should be shakin' in their shoes. (Note to the Democrats: don't just sit back on your laurels and feel satisfied about voter dissatisfaction--we need to speak strongly to these voters.) It's a great piece of radio; here's a sample:

Wertheimer: Elizabeth Wessel [sp?] is vice president for foster care at the Kentucky Baptist Home for Children. She worries about the war, but says her problems with the President are more domestic, that he didn't move quickly to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Wessel: The war was a huge piece, and this sealed it for me. This has been more tragic for me because it's right here at home and in my line of work, that I deal with so many foster kids and I deal with a great deal of poverty. And the fact that he could basically turn his back on the poverty-stricken population is just appalling to me.

Wertheimer: Elizabeth Wessel says she voted for President Bush because of his family values.

Wessel: I think the one thing that I was looking for was a President that had strong values and high morals. And I think Bush has done that. I mean, we don't see him having extra-marital affairs, and he seems to be committed to his family.

Wertheimer: Do you still think of him as having those sort of strong values?

Wessel: Only for himself and his family. I think they're very self-serving. I don't think it's for the common people. I don't think it's for the minorities. I think it's for the wealthy, white population.