Given the all-time low approval ratings

[Jack Sprat]

that Shrub has established in the last few weeks, have any of you observed any sense of your rightwing family or workmates showing an inclination to vote for Clinton or Obama over McCain? Or do you sense them as being more inclined to vote McCain, in light of the fact that they know that the Democratic candidate will be one or the other/

[Honeycombe8]

1. No way. That ol' saying: Repubs fall in line. Repubs who don't like McCain...

over here in my neck o'the woods voted for him (or Huckabee) in the primary. But quite a few voted for Hillary, I hear, in the hopes that she'd win our state (she did - TX), because they viewed her as the easier candidate to beat.

[1awake]

2. well,

my brother who I love to argue with these days really dislikes Bush, and flat out can't stand McCain. He says McCain is no republican and he will not vote for him in the GE (which he really won't.. he usually does what he says). Sadly, that does not translate into him voting for one of ours.. he will sit this election out.

[Drachasor]

6. That's the most likely scenerio. An unenergized republican base will have depressed turnout

Crossover voters will be relatively small in number comparatively, I think.

[jobycom]

3. I've not seen Republicans shifting, but I've seen independents shifting.

I have a friend who has never voted for a Democrat before. He's not a hardcore Republican, and not a conservative, but he's always voted the way his daddy told him to decades ago, which was Republican.

He dislikes Bush greatly, and that made him look at other candidates than Republicans. But his experience is so limited he doesn't really see things the way a partisan would. For instance, he hates the Clintons, but hates McCain and Giuliani, so he had narrowed his vote down to Fred Thompson or Barack Obama. For the life of me, even after asking about it, I can't understand that combo.

By the time Fred had bailed, my friend had fallen in love with Obama. And I mean love. He can't see any flaws in Obama, he sees Obama the way most people see their spouses just before they propose. So he's planning to vote for Obama. This and his distaste for Bush (and we are in Texas) makes him dislike McCain intensely.

When the Wright story first broke, this guy was almost in tears, as though he'd been cheated on by a trusted spouse. He told me he felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach, he was so outraged by Wright's comments. Even though I'm a Clinton supporter (and frankly really don't like Obama), I told him the story was nothing, that Obama's preacher was just using fiery rhetoric like most preachers, and even though I thought he should support Clinton instead of Obama, he shouldn't hold Obama's preacher's words against him. So he forgave Obama, and is happy again.

If Clinton wins, he'll vote Clinton, because he's so turned off by Bush that it flows over to McCain, and because Clinton's issues are identical to Obama's, anyway, and he's learned to love the issues (the ones he understands, anyway) as well as the man. But he won't be happy with Clinton.

You'd be tempted to think he must not be that bright, with the Thompson thing and then the Wright thing (not to mention a history of Bush and Reagan votes), but he's actually rather intelligent. Politics has just never been his thing before.

So I've seen Bush supporters (not just this one) so turned off that they are planning to vote Democrat, but the hardcore idealogues of the Republican Party are still hardcore ideologues who will vote for a Republican no matter what happens.

[lapfog_1]

4. 13 voters in my family, most are Republican.

If it's McCain V. Hillary.... 12 McCain 0 Hillary 1 abstain (me)
If it's McCain V. Obama...... 6 McCain 6 Obama

[Ysabel]

5. i don't know any right wing people...

- really...

p.s. madison really is a nice place to live...

[mwb970]

7. I don't know any right-wingers either.

I guess we just move in different circles.

I don't think I would want to spend much of my time with a frightened, angry bigot, which so many righties seem to be. Plus, they don't seem very smart. And, they have no sense of humor whatsoever. Why bother with them?

[Hepburn]

8. So far with my Pubbie pals...

...my male Pubbie pal will stay home or not vote on the top of the ticket if it is a McCain-Hillary match up. If it is Obama, he will vote for Obama. He is a registered Repubbie, but did not vote in the Calif primary. He is a Reaganite ... and just loves Ronnie. YUCK!

...my female Pubbie pal voted in the Calif primary, does not like McCain and therefore voted for Romney. She hates ~~ I mean totally hates ~~ Hillary and disliked Obama at the time of our primary. She said to me the other day, she now likes Obama ... and I nearly fainted. IMO, she most likely will vote Obama if he is the nominee and will not vote if it is a McCain - Hillary contest.

...my never has been registered to vote pal is going to reg and vote for the first time in her life. She will be 58 in September. She decided to do this because of the Obama campaign! If he is the nominee, she will vote in November. She is also looking at the down the line contests and she is coming out as a real progressive ... and this is without any influence from me!

:hi: