I've noticed a big Irish identity thing here. I live North of Trenton, about 5 miles upstream along the Delaware. Most of my neighbors are Irish Catholic. They're good people, but they're yellow-dog Democrats.
Same with Italians. I once heard two Italian acquaintances speaking and one identified the other as a fellow -- and I don't recall the region, but it was Southern Italian. I said, "gee I had you pegged as Americans..." and they got almost apologetic and explained it was "just an ethnic thing." And I believe them. They are good guys and patriots.
But this is the sort of thing that keeps people on the Democratic rosters: grandpa did it, dad and mom did it,etc. I hope Bush's people are aware of this; that demographic is easy to overlook.
The Irish identity is not what bothers me. The funds do.