Change of heartland

[salin]

Interesting story in the Boston Globe about a shift in attitude in my home state. Oh - and the subtitle - folks - no one here refers to ourselves as "Indianans"... but aside from this - this is an interesting read.

Not sure that it will translate into enough backlash to change the congressional seats (and there are three close races in the state) - except, as the article suggests, that frustration may depress gop voters while energizing dem voters.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/03/19/change_of_heartland?mode=PF

Change of heartland
On the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, many Indianians are no longer strongly behind the war
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | March 19, 2006

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The third anniversary of the Iraq invasion unleashed a surge of pessimism at a local farmers' market here, where stalwart Republicans, standing amid aisles of produce and miracle cures, said President Bush has messed up a war that looks more like Vietnam every day.

''It's chaos," said Roger Madaras, who voted twice for Bush. ''How many more people are going to be killed? We were going in to free the people of Iraq, but as far as I'm concerned, a lot of them are worse off today than they were under the dictatorship."

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As more and more Hoosiers find themselves making the comparison that only liberals and antiwar protesters made a year ago -- Iraq is like Vietnam -- some say they are also starting to doubt Bush's competence to protect America from terrorism on the home front.

John Lackman, a retired manager at an aircraft wheels and brakes factory who was eating breakfast at a table near Schreiber, said the slow federal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster last year gave many pause.

''That New Orleans situation just piled it on top of the Iraq War," Lackman said. ''The security issue is paramount in everyone's mind. If they couldn't respond adequately to that situation, how are they going to respond if there's a dirty bomb?"

(more at link - long article)