A Shrinking Base (Support for Bush Wanes Among Military Families)

[kskiska]

Support for Bush Wanes Among Military Families Facing Redeployment

HINESVILLE, Ga.
Yes, sir, this is Bush country: Real pit barbecues, yellow ribbons on church doors, wild boar in the woods. Fort Stewart 10 minutes away. And one preteen party loyalist greeting guests for his mother's Party for the President, on National Party for the President Day, a boy with impeccable manners who, when peppered with questions by the adults in the living room, blurts out things such as "Condi Rice speaks, like, three languages!"

So why does hostess Michele Bourque sound as defensive as if she were living in Berkeley?

"There's just so much negativity around," she says, explaining her decision to host this party. "There's not a lot of positive affirmation about why George W. Bush should be president. We just want to let people know, he's not as bad as people think."

(snip)

"People can deal with it if it's honest and up-front," he says about the deployments. "But they've broken their word so many times it gets frustrating. Everyone says they love George W. Bush, but when you get over there and see your buddies blown up and then think: 'What the hell are we doing over there?' You start to think: 'Who do I hold responsible?'

"My overall encapsulation is that the public will be overwhelmingly surprised at how many people coming back from Iraq will not vote for George W. Bush."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A175-2004Jul20.html

[jdj]

1. Whoopy do! Happy Day! Great headline to read, and from Wapo no less!

I love the last sentence in your clip from the article:

"You start to think..."

Yay! They are STARTING to THINK!!!

[Bozita]

2. "... he's not as bad as people think."

If all of the votes are counted, there is no contest.

[Jacobin]

3. What a stunning endorsement, no?

"not as bad as people think". My favorite line

[Trajan]

31. LMFAO ! ...

"Vote for George W. Bush: He's not as bad as people think ... " ...

Now THAT is a winning campaign theme ....

Sheeeesh ...

[KittyWampus]

5. Not As Bad As People Think- HE'S 100x WORSE!!!

[struggle4progress]

8. That's the sort of thing Mama says when Sonny is a serial killer. eom

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. That's what Jeffrey Dahmer's parents said, too.

[Piperay]

16. Hehehe

love that line, not much of a ringing endorsement. :bounce:

[yellowcanine]

24. That one is my favorite and this one is my runner-up... "the public will

be overwhelmingly surprised at how many people coming back from Iraq will not vote for George W. Bush."

[bluestateguy]

4. Good news, but lets not exaggerate things

At the end of the day I still think most full time military personell will vote Bush, but not by as much as in 2000. And the officer corps will still back Bush strongly. National Guardsmen could tilt even more towards the Democrats. They are not nearly as imbued into the military culture, as they are citizen soldiers.

Where I do see major gains for the Democrats is among the military families: the parents, wives and girlfriends of these folks who just want their loved ones home, or fear that they will be redeployed.

[Spangle]

6. It allows people to think it

And allows people to talk about it. THAT is exciting news.

[REVOLT823]

10. I respectfully disagree

I was in the Marines for 6 years and most people in the military vote on what most closely affects them, i.e. foreign policy. Bush sending the troops into harms way without the proper equipment while he is trying to cut military salaries, benefits forfamilies, and VA money is not going to play well at all with our young men and women in the military. I do agree that their families are going to vote largely Kerry, they don't want their loved ones fighting for anything other than the defense of this nation. You might be right to some extent on the officers, but they are in the same pickle everyone else is in the military. IMO

[yardwork]

13. I'm glad to hear that. And welcome to DU!

Please stay and post more about your first-hand experiences. We need that information.

[DoYouEverWonder]

30. What about those raises that W has been handing out

every year since he took office?

I just saw a young fellow that I know, who is on his second enlistment in the Marines and he still loves W. He says that he's gotten a raise every year, since W took office and last year he got 8%.

I asked him about Iraq and the lies and he said none of that mattered to him. He didn't care where they send him, that he was trained to do what he was told. Oh well, go figure.

[faithnotgreed]

7. its so tragic. i want people to vote kerry but not because its "barbaric"

in iraq.

and these families and soldiers.... its all so incredibly sad

they are all starting to ask why - and how do you answer that? my prayers are with them all.

[Zorra]

9. Bu$h is not as bad as people think? You mean he's actually worse?

[DeepModem Mom]

12. kick

[JSJ]

14. has their prime motivation switched from bigotry and greed...

... to greed and bigotry? And now, they're blaming their former godlet?

[DaveSZ]

15. My heart goes out to the military familes

I know how they feel.

[Vogon_Glory]

17. Military Families' Phalanx of Support For Dubya Broken

Even here in Texas, I've noted that there are visible currents of discontent with George Deucey-U Bush among military families. They may not speak about it, but it is definitely there. Contrast this to military families' hostility to former president Clinton and vice president Gore. Dubya had that block as a solid lock back in 2000.

That really takes some doing to alienate a powerful constituency like that. I wonder if military families, especially among the officer corps, will go back to being knee jerk Republicans after this November.

[0007]

18. Last week I was in Houston at MD Anderson

While waiting for my appointment, I begin a conversation with a lady sitting next to me with her son sitting on the other side of this lady. During the course of the conversation it was revealed that her son was a U.S. Marine and was home to bring his mother in for surgery. I ask him how the troops felt about Bush, their Commander in Chief. He said that most all of the Marines he knew, including his Commanding Officer didn't have any respect for Bush and talked and joked openly about him.

[opihimoimoi]

19. Bush has abused the troops with poor leadership and now its

the troops turn to abuse him with jokes and lack of votes....

[calico1]

20. I don't know...

When I read the article I expected more negativity toward Bush. Instead, I am reading about President parties, how they will support him because they are afraid to change Presidents, how he isn't so bad, etc. etc. Did I read wrong? Yes, there was some non support but overall the impression I got was they will vote for him even though they are not that enthusiastic. I wonder--Just how much needs to happen to these people before they realize that he does not have their best interests in mind? How much does Bush need to do to them?

[GoldenOldie]

22. "....he's not as bad as people think."

My daughter will be attending a rosary, a mass, and a burial service's of one of her former students. 3-weeks after his death from a roadside explosion in Falujia (sp), Iraq his body has been returned home. His wife just gave birth to their first child at Fort Bragg, last week. This young man was every mothers and fathers dream of a perfect son, a teacher's success story, and a beautiful memory of friendships lost much to soon. This young man was 21-years old. Upon learning of Jeff's death, the language expressed by friends both young and old, regarding their feelings for George W. Bush and company are unprintable in this post.

I awoke this morning to have my morning coffee and tune into the news. The very first thing that appears before my sleep encrusted eyes, is the daughter of George W. Bush, sitting in the Presidential Limo, after campaigning for her daddy. This privileged young lady who has just returned from a European vacation with her sister, is seen sticking her tongue out at the reporters covering the campaign trail.

You think the family and friends grieving the military loved ones that are returning in flag-draped coffins, those that are returning so horribly maimed and crippled for life, those that return with traumatic stress and memories that will never leave them.

You think after personally being affected with the deaths and injuries of this unjust war and after seeing Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11 that the military and the ex-pats will not have very strong feelings against the re-sitting of this @#$%$^@#&*&&*&&.

[true grit]

26. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree...

Children immulate what they learn at home. Something must have told it was OK to stick your toungue out at America. Maybe something she learned at home??

[rocktivity]

21. Winner of this month's "You Call THIS Late Breaking News?" award!

Does she know about the families who have to stand in line at food banks while mercenaries earn four times her husband's salary?

:headbang:
rocknation

[struggle4progress]

23. Military Families Speak Out

As people with family members and loved ones in the military, we have both a special need and a unique role to play in speaking out against war in Iraq. It is our loved ones who are, or have been, or will be on the battlefront. It is our loved ones who are risking injury and death. It is our loved ones who are returning scarred from their experiences. It is our loved ones who will have to live with the injuries and deaths among innocent Iraqi civilians.
http://www.mfso.org/

<edit:>

http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
VETERANS FOR PEACE
2004 National Convention
July 22-25 Boston MA

http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
BRING THEM HOME NOW! is a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel, reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by George W. Bush's inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to "Bring 'em on." Our mission is to mobilize military families, veterans, and GIs themselves to demand: an end to the occupation of Iraq and other misguided military adventures; and an immediate return of all US troops to their home duty stations.


http://girights.objector.org/whoweare.html
The GI Rights Hotline is answered by a coalition of nonprofit, non-governmental organizations who provide information to members of the military about discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other civil rights.
GI Rights Hotline Organizations:

Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors
630 20th Street #302
Oakland, CA 94612
[e-mail]
1515 Cherry St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102

American Friends Service Committee - New England Regional Office
2161 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
[e-mail]

Center on Conscience & War (NISBCO)
1830 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-483-2220 or 800-379-2679
[e-mail]

Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild
318 Ortega St.
San Francisco, CA 94122
415-566-3732

Northcoast WRL / Humboldt Committee for Conscientious Objectors
(NCWRL-HCCO)
1040 H Street
Arcata, CA 95521
707-826-0165
[e-mail]

Quaker House of Fayetteville, NC
223 Hillside Ave
Fayetteville, NC 28301
910-323-3912 or 919-663-7122

Resource Center for Nonviolence
Draft & Military Alternatives
515 Broadway
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-359-0202
[e-mail]

San Diego Military Counseling Project
P.O. Box 15307
San Diego, CA 92175
619-692-3686
[e-mail]

Seattle Draft and Military Counseling Center
P.O. Box 25681
Seattle, WA 98165-1181
206-789-2751
[e-mail]

Veterans for Peace
438 N. Skinker
St. Louis, MO 63130
314-725-6005
[e-mail]

War Resisters League
339 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012
212-228-0450
[e-mail]

[lovuian]

25. Reality is Hitting Home

:bounce:

[true grit]

27. My nephew was there

Marine Reserve Sargeant, He lost 40 pounds and survived on one MRE per day for months in Northern Iraq. Another friend of my daughter was in Baghdad. He hates that he is ordered to shoot "anything that looks at you." He is pleading her and their friends to register and vote Bush out.

[Toot]

28. This is great. This is where I live.

I saw my first Kerry bumpersticker yesterday and was completely shocked because when Gore ran I never saw anything for him.

[eightyferrettoes]

29. And all the Army's people say, "Amen." (Or should!)

Whew. Even people up here at sleepy Ft. Wainwright are getting uncomfortable with Bush!

I don't really think the military's vote will be quite as monolithic this time, either. I'm former active duty Army myself (married to a soldier now), my dad is active duty, my brother is a National Guardsman on his way to Iraq, and my other brother is a Marine.

They seem to think Republicans will raise their pay and benefits... so much for that! The housing is terrible, the health care is shoddy, and the pay... well, we won't even talk about the pay. lol lol lol

I guess we made our own beds. Sigh.