NYT: United in Grief, but Divided on Election Day (families of Iraq dead)

[DeepModem Mom]

United in Their Grief, but Divided on What to Do on Election Day
By JAMES DAO

Published: September 9, 2004


....They are united in their anguish, working-class backgrounds and small-town lives. But when it comes to their opinions about the war, the president and the Democrat who seeks to unseat him, the relatives of troops who have died in Iraq are far from agreement, as suggested in interviews in western Pennsylvania, which has more war deaths than any other presidential swing state.

Many, quite possibly most, of these families remain supportive of the president, believing that in ousting Saddam Hussein he struck an important blow against tyranny and terrorism....

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Yet a significant number of families have also become bitterly disillusioned by the war and the president who led the country into it, calling his actions impetuous, ill conceived or part of a personal vendetta....

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But it is far from clear whether such anger will translate into political action. Though dismay with the war might seem a powerful motivation to support the challenger, many people who oppose the war seemed unsure about Mr. Kerry. Several expressed deep alienation with politics and said they did not plan to vote at all....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/09/politics/campaign/09pitts.html