Faith in Bush Unshaken in Rural Ohio Despite Economy

[papau]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-campaign-ohio.html

Faith in Bush Unshaken in Rural Ohio Despite Economy
By REUTERS Published: September 13, 2004


TIFFIN, Ohio (Reuters) - Squinting from a barber's chair, Rod Berlekamp explains why President Bush has his vote locked up for a second straight U.S. presidential election despite job losses in this rural northwest Ohio town.

``The most important thing is we've got to defeat terrorism. We can't have a good economy with terrorism,'' the retired 72-year-old registered Republican said, while getting his hair trimmed at Varsity Barber Shop.

One chair over, Montie Waters could not disagree more.

``There are too many big corporations putting people out of work,'' the retired 63-year-old said, explaining why he plans to vote for Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry in November. He supported Al Gore in 2000.<snip>

``I'm a Bush man; the reason is his strength and decisiveness,'' said Dean Distel, a 68-year-old retiree having coffee with friends at the Coffee Break in downtown Tiffin.<snip>

[papau]

1. This is sad - some folks will vote for slavery if it meant no more scary

terrorists.

:-(

[Kukesa]

2. The Rich, The Rednecks, The Rurals --

Those are the folks who are giving us nightmares here in Ohio.

There's even a "Shrub Farm Team" that's begun to post signs in our rural areas.

Can someone please explain to me why these folks cannot be swayed?

:shrug:

[Eurobabe]

3. because they are technically brain dead?

i am dismayed at the level of support i see in cincy area for B/C. the only answer i see to the phenomenon is that like someone i met today, they are woefully undereducated about the issues.

[Kukesa]

4. Scary, isn't it?

I recently spoke with a couple I've known for years -- they're pro-choice, against the Iraq war, etc., however, they BELIEVE the Swift Boat LIARS and there's nothing I can say or even prove to convince them otherwise.

I'm totally dismayed by this attitude and I encounter it day after day.

What can we do?

[mongo]

5. It's the media and the churches

And it's not just the rural and rich. When I worked as a systems analyst in Columbus, about 10% of the department were in the religious right. Good, college educated, middle class folks.

They sit in their cubes listening to Glenn Beck, Then Rush, then Hannity and pop up like gohpers whenever their guys said something particularly clever.

My boss, was a real asswipe, who didn't know I was also listening to the same programs. He would get up during commercial breaks and say "ya know, I've been thinking..." and procede to parrot whatever Rush was just talking about. It is soooo convienient to have your opinions pre-packaged like that for you.

The evangelicals are a powerful force in this country, and they would be happy to replace our government with a facist theocracy. Our own little taliban - and Bush represents their views.

[Eurobabe]

11. American Taliban = Rapture Rangers

[Kolesar]

13. How can people work with that nonsense blaring on the radio?

I find it hard to work with even vocal music on, unless it is painting or handiwork. My girlfriend is a system analyst in a place where they played AM propaganda talk radio. She complained and made the boss order them to turn off the radio because it distracted her.

[shade]

6. Ugh.

I see the article quotes the mayor of my town (Findlay) as saying job losses won't play a part. I certainly hope they do -- Findlay's been hit HARD this year by white collar job losses, and there'll probably be more soon -- I'm hearing rumors that Marathon-Ashland is getting ready to offshore their IT department.

The one thing to remember with Findlay, Tiffin, and the rest of the area around here is that it's basically a Republican backwater. I'd be surprised if any Democrat since FDR carried this district, and maybe not even then.

[mongo]

8. Welcome to DU!

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

7. Large parts of rural Ohio have voted GOP since the Civil War..

...alot of whats going on is intergenerational and political tradition, too....Western Ohio has been very GOP for 100 years now...people are voting the way their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents voted.

[AngryOldDem]

9. My Mom is a good example....

...she's 84, is not fond of Bush, but has been genetically programmed to vote Republican. Votes a straight ticket, every election. My husband thought he was starting to get through to her -- she's on a fixed income and has four grandkids (two of whom are close to draft age)-- but the latest signs are she'll vote for Bush.

I stopped trying to figure out this woman a long, long time ago. Pisses me off.

[Eurobabe]

12. precisely why this guy I know is voting GOP

"because his father is a staunch" REPUBE. I'm working on him.

[Eurobabe]

10. Don't these morons realize that property taxes

that kill off the middle class and corporate welfare are forms of terrorism too?

[Nikia]

14. I am not sure why this is

Unlike where I live now, Seneca County (the county where Tiffin is located) does have an active somewhat strong local party. When I was a child, there was a time when all 7 Tiffin city council members were Democrats. For some reason though, Democrats on the national or even state level have a hard time capturing the majority of the vote.
Tiffin is the type of town that has seen much better days. Many of the older people are still living in the past. People still belive (or least believed until recently) that hard work would guarentee a nice life. In Tiffin's more prosperous days, that worked. They have really suffered and been betrayed by factory closing for most of my life and more now than ever.
They should all be voting for Kerry now. I don't know why they don't. I suppose that one factor is that many people are deeply religious. There are Catholic Fundamentalists as well as Protestant Fundamentalists. Many are one issue "Pro Life" people. Hunting is also popular and some people believe that Democrats want to take away all their guns. I left the area during the Clinton presidency. Unfortunately, I don't think that things got any better during then. Maybe, they don't think that things will get better under Kerry.
I'll out myself and say that I was born and raised in that area. Both sides of the family were active in both parties politics. One side of the family has lived in that area for generations. I am disappointed to see this area going downhill. I am sure that those still there do also. Another term of Bush won't make things any better for them. I don't think that they believe that Kerry will either though.

[shade]

15. Hey...

Greetings from next door in Hancock County.

Everything you say is pretty much spot on. It's really rather depressing, and personally, moving out of this area entirely sounds more and more appealing to me every day... I'm not sure it's ever going to change.

The one thing that does surprise me, as opposed to the 2000 election, is how many Kerry/Edwards yard signs I'm seeing around Findlay... it's far more than I'd normally expect, so maybe there's a little ray of hope. Even so, with the exception of Lucas and perhaps Wood counties, I don't think we're going to carry NW Ohio.

I'm a bit more optimistic about the rest of the state, though, but I guess it remains to be seen.