I've been taking the time to really listen to Repugs the past few days...

[DemWitch]

I've been doing some campaigning for the Democratic candidate for our congressional district, and I live in the buckle of the republican belt of upstate NY. In talking with "dyed in the wool" repuglicans, and actually listening I've made some interesting discoveries.

Most of them aren't happy with Shrubya.
Most of them are concerned about terrorism and being protected, but aren't happy about Iraq.
Most of them disagree with gay marriages, but don't think it should be a constitutional amendment. Typical response "I don't think it's right, but I don't think people should be discriminated against either"

Now the main reason for voting for Bush... and I heard this from probably 95% of folks... because of abortion. Bush will put a stop to drive through abortion clinics. Bush will stop the murder of the unborn, etc.

Playing devil's advocate with a few that seemed a bit reasonable, about a dozen, I asked "If John Kerry said he was pro-life and would work to insure that abortion was outlawed, except in cases of the health of the mother, would you consider voting for him?" I was floored... almost everyone of them said yes. 1 said absolutely not because "he would still let fags get married." The second no was no because "he's not a christian." I said well he's catholic and i was told "that's not the same thing". (okie dokie then)

My observation is that most people are so laserlight centered on this one issue, at least in this area, that everything else comes in second.

I don't know what this means, but I just found it interesting...

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. Sounds like he won't be getting those folks' votes

I don't understand single issue voters.

[barbaraann]

2. Well, if the most powerful force in a human is the drive to

replicate their own DNA, it makes sense that abortion is a profoundly motivating issue.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. I don't believe this

You ran into a weird sample of the population. Abortion is just not that important to most people.
and it's John Kerry - (fix your misspell)

[DemWitch]

7. ooooops, thanks for the heads up...

one of these days I am actually going to use spellcheck...

[serryjw]

11. YES it is!

I was petitioning and doing a 'get out to vote drive' for over ONE year! You have a solid 25% of the country that will NEVER vote for a pro-choice candidate.

Funny Story...
I was in front of my favorite King Soopers petitioning. Many times I saw these elderly gentleman that had breakfast in the eating area in the supermarket. One day I asked them whom they were voting for ...They said Bushit..I asked WHY? They said because they were Both pro-life. I said May I ask how old you both are? They said together....WE ARE 84!I said at 84 isn't SS, Medicare, and prescription drugs more important than woman's reproductive rights? They said (together) WE WOULD NEVER VOTE FOR ANYONE WHOM WASN'T PRO-LIFE! I said what would you do if SS & Medicare where not available.........THEY SAID


G-D would provide!

I rest my case!

[Yavin4]

4. Most People Who Are Against Abortion, Don't Even Know Why

they're against it. They're just repeating the brainwashing that their churh puts them through. These same people would also vote against pre-natal care, day care, head start, education, foster care etc.

[slojim240]

17. Ask anyone of them if they know anyone who has had an abortion.

Then ask them why they are fearful of abortions or people who had one. Since most of them won't know anyone who has had one and since they don't plan on having one, why is this such an issue?

I'm beginning to believe that Republicans say they are against abortions but most of their wives and girlfriends have had one or more secretly. Republican men are against abortions because they want more children to grow up and become soldiers to fight their wars of aggression.

[seabeyond]

5. that's not the same thing". (okie dokie then)

you are funny

same in my area. all about abortion. fry in in the chair, send them to war.........

[Booster]

6. It just boggles my mind that pro-lifers think anybody

is for abortion. I'm not "for abortion" but I'm old enough to remember how women got abortions before doctors were allowed to do give them one without them bleeding to death from coat hangers in some filthy room. Women have been having abortions since the beginning of time and absolutely nothing will stop them once they make up their minds that's what they want to do. I just don't think the government has the right to make it a law that they can't have one. My argument to this is always, when they catch a woman who had an abortion, shouldn't anybody who she confided in also be arrested as an accomplice, like her own parents, sisters, brothers, friends? Where do you decide to stop with arresting everybody involved? It's really frustrating talking to pro-lifers.

[serryjw]

12. PRO_LIFERS are

anti sex outside of marriage. So if you don't have sex, you don't get preganat, and don't have to worry about abortion.......INSIDE of marriage it would be a sin!

[LoZoccolo]

8. My response to that would be...

"Bush* isn't going to do anything about that! C'mon, Bush* would lose half his votes if he did anything about that!"

Or you could ask them if the Republicans have really done anything about that.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

16. They know just as we do that it's about the Supreme Court

[Child_Of_Isis]

9. Bush will stop the killing of the unborn,

and all the while kill Iraqi children. Where does this logic come from I wonder? And why don't Republicans, who despise the poor, and any and all services the government affords them, want children to be born to mothers who cannot afford to care for them? If the government is able to prevent an unwed and poor girl/woman from having an abortion, then that government should assume financial responsibility of the child that will be born.

[bobbieinok]

10. at times over the last years I've thought some anti-abortion people wanted

more white babies born so more would be available for adoption.....

[rucky]

13. If there's going to be poverty & no access to health care,

you bet there will be more abortions - legal or not.

the best way to prevent them is to increase education and quality of life.

[Lovecrafty]

14. The Republicans use the abortion issue to demonize Democrats.

The Republicans have been using the abortion issue to get the single-issue vote and demonize the Democrats. They use those buzzwords like "murder", "baby killer", and "innocent" to portray us Democrats as immoral and evil, as if we're out there seeking out your fetus like a vampire! The single-issue voters are all too willing to elect them as long as they say those magic words: "I am pro-life". And that's it! You can be the most corrupted politician imaginable, you can pillage our enviornment, loot social security, outsource jobs, even take away our civil liberties, but as long as you uttered those magic words then you can count on the single-issue vote!

I have always despised single-issue voters for not looking at the broader perspective, for following blindly like a Jonestown Alumni these Republicans into the gates of hell itself, enchanted by their own sense of righteousness and that magic buzzword "pro-life". For many Christians, this is the ONLY issue. They don't care how corrupt a person truly is as long as they claim to be "pro-life". Amazingly, death is all I've seen from Republicans. The Death of our economic future..the death of thousands of innocent civilians abroad..the death of our enviornment...the death of our middle class...the death of the sickest and most needy among us..the death of our civil liberties and the constitution. How these naive single-issue voters are convinced Republicans are "pro-life" is beyond me!

Besides, suppose you banned abortion tommorow. Completely 100% illegal nationwide. There is NO WAY the adoption rate can keep up with the birth rate! Once all the pro-life Christians adopt a few children, what then? The birth rate is increasing exponentially every year! Eventually, with the birth rate outpacing the adoption rate, one of two things will happen:

1) The Government will embark on one of the largest social programs in history trying to deal with these millions of unwanted children born each year. We will basically be forced to create "baby farms", where the unaborted children will be raised like cattle by the hundreds..the thousands..and eventually the millions! All funded by the taxpayer, of course. I'm sure once it starts costing them money, Republicans will drop their "pro-life" stance and come back to a practical solution to the population problem! I suppose the baby farms will make an excellent recruiting tool for the industrial-military complex, however.

2) Adoption standards will be reduced to the point where you now have "Baby Wal-Marts". The screening process of potential parents will be accelerated, putting more children into the hands of unfit or otherwise abusive parents. Right now MONEY is the main incentive for foster homes. Foster parents are paid on a per-child basis. I have personally seen foster homes with as many as 10 children. These children are often victims of abuse and neglect, withdrawn and afraid of people in general, suddenly thrust into a strange home with ten or fifteen other children. There is no time for the one-on-one care and attention the child requires to overcome their abuse. This will only get worse with the influx of the millions of children each year being put into the system because of the anti-abortion laws. So entire generations will be born and raised in foster homes, forgotten and neglected...BUT ALIVE PRAISE JESUS!!!

[Kimber Scott]

15. It kills me to hear people who don't know Catholics are Christians.

They're the first Christians. Augh! Don't they teach history in school anymore?

Anyway. I don't get this abortion issue. First off, women don't get abortions that often, statistically, and when they do, it's nobody's business. I can't imagine any woman makes that kind of decision lightly and, if she does, she shouldn't have kids anyway. The Republicans have played the abortion card very well. Now, they're hoping to do the same thing with gay marriage. They'll get everybody all stirred up over gay marriage, hoping nobody notices they're giving it to us ALL in the hind end.

[quaker bill]

18. The more ironic bit is that Bush won't actually do it.

Banning abortion has been a 30% (for a ban) - 70% (against it) for a very long time. This is why they will never actually do it.

Even the "partial birth" ban that they passed last year was constitutionally flawed. The point is that they knew it was flawed and would be struck down by the courts. That is why they passed it without an exception that would allow the procedure to be used to save the life of the mother.

They want the issue to campaign on. If they accomplished the ban, they know these folks would feel free to vote their conscience on other issues which would break up the voting block. Beyond that, it would alienate about 70 percent of the voters who oppose the ban.

The abortion issue is nothing but an artifice they use to obtain political power and control over the economics of the nation. Their actual goal is money and power.

[IdaBriggs]

19. I've been working on it for a bit myself.

In my experience, you are correct. I think "abortion" and "gay marriage" are the two biggest "scare" things the right uses. I think I've got the "gay marriage" thing solved (more later), but the "abortion" issue requires more work. :) Best, Ida