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Bush's Stealth Supporters. Will Kerry's weakness ... cost him part of his base?
WSJ ^ | Tuesday, October 19, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT | BY BRENDAN MINITER

Posted on 10/19/2004 7:29:04 AM PDT by .cnI redruM

John Kerry has been fighting the flip-flop moniker for months. So it will be with some irony if on Nov. 2 he ends up a victim of voters who've told pollsters they support him on domestic issues, but then turn around and elect George W. Bush. Call them flip-flop voters or stealth Bush supporters, but Zell Miller is not the only Democrat hoping the president wins re-election. We've all met lifelong Democrats who quietly admit they support Mr. Bush this year, and the polls now appear to be opening up in the president's favor.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: demsforbush; election2004
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Perhaps we'll see a new breed of Reagan Democrat...
1 posted on 10/19/2004 7:29:05 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
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To: .cnI redruM

You rang???


2 posted on 10/19/2004 7:29:49 AM PDT by BreitbartSentMe (Now EX-Democrat!)
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To: Bush_Democrat

They are realizing his middle name really is 'Rosebud'.


3 posted on 10/19/2004 7:31:15 AM PDT by Stashiu ( Yeah, I am a Vietnam Vet, not a War Criminal.)
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To: .cnI redruM
But that hardly seems to matter if, once alone in the voting booth, the chief concern isn't lost jobs but rather another terrorist attack. If that happens, Mr. Kerry may find that a lot of the voters his campaign volunteers get to the polls will have silently voted for Mr. Bush.

This has been my husband's premise from the beginning. No matter what they tell the pollsters, in the ballot box they will vote Bush.

Hope this theory is right!

4 posted on 10/19/2004 7:35:28 AM PDT by dawn53
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To: .cnI redruM

I believe this - My in-laws are just such life long democrats - voting for Bush this year.....


5 posted on 10/19/2004 7:35:30 AM PDT by Momto2 (daily training the next generation of freepers - with joy!!)
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To: Stashiu

that is just like my daughter. She is voting for Bush, but cannot say that at her work. She would be the only one in the MEA(Michigan's branch of the NEA) that is openly say they are voting for Bush.


6 posted on 10/19/2004 7:36:26 AM PDT by joldnir
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To: .cnI redruM

I have a feeling that a lot of DC democrats are stealth "Bushies". Joe Lieberman voices his partisan support but his heart clearly isn't in it. Even Tom Daschle is keeping Kerry at arms length. These are the people who know Kerry the best.

I suspect that there are a lot of democrats who are real happy their vote is private.


7 posted on 10/19/2004 7:39:58 AM PDT by cripplecreek (The economy won't matter if you're dead.)
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To: Momto2

I wish that the same were true for me. My mother-in-law is also a life long Democrat, though extremely conservative on everything. Basically I think that she had her brain surgically removed. She's still voting for Kerry which brings to mind an old truism.

What's the definition of mixed emotions? Your mother-in-law driving your new Lexus off a cliff!


8 posted on 10/19/2004 7:40:39 AM PDT by Syco
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To: Bush_Democrat

Bravo! :)

Welcome to the darkside.. oh wait we are the good side.... dang it It get soooo confused! :)


9 posted on 10/19/2004 7:41:19 AM PDT by Americanwolf (Paintball Gun: $44..Accessories: $55. Protecting campaign sign from Union thugs: Priceless!)
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To: .cnI redruM; MeekOneGOP; Grampa Dave

BTTT


10 posted on 10/19/2004 7:44:30 AM PDT by EdReform (Have you seen FAHRENHYPE 9/11? - www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1240926/posts)
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To: Momto2
"Zell Miller is not the only Democrat hoping the president wins reelection."

Funny, speaking of Zell...I had two of my email addresses booted from the DUmmy site for not talking like a liberal...tombstoned is what they call it over there.. Tomsbstoned twice by Jack@$$e$ is a badge of honor in my book. Anyway, I had 2 more email addresses I could use, so I put a sleeper account over there so I could mess with them on Nov3. The acct name was ZellDem. I created the account and never posted a single thing, and never responded to a post. It was strictly to use to give a last hurrah and zing them bad after President Bush is victorious!!

Well, I read something the other day, it ticked me off and I thought I could logon and reply in such a way that doesn't show my true political affiliation and guess what? ZellDem was SUSPENDED and DELETED. Just for the name is the only thing I can think of. It was only a few days old, and I hadn't posted or replied to anything. Guess they just don't like ol Zell too much, but Zell happens to be my favorite Democrat!!

11 posted on 10/19/2004 7:47:15 AM PDT by libs_kma (USA: The land of the Free....Because of the Brave!)
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To: .cnI redruM

It's kerry's polling internals that will cause him to lose. None have caused him to overtake bush on terrorism or Iraq and Bush has actually closed the gap on the economy. I think, though they say undecideds break for challenger (I know, I know the debate on that) that in this case, the internals are so bad for kerry, it won't happen.

#2) Bush's base is motivated MUCH more than kerry

#3) Even Zogby/Reuters ..or somebody said that kerry isn't really closing the deal.


12 posted on 10/19/2004 7:51:18 AM PDT by madison46 (Will we EVER get a poll out of OH??)
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To: cripplecreek

Lieberman and Schumer, both of whom care deeply about Israel, know in their sould that if Kerry is in the WH, that Israel is in peril, especially with an Iranian nuke. Dids you see the reports that 100,000 Americnas living in Israel may vote this year, and that about 15,000 of them are registered in Florida. After Arafat endorsed Kerry, Bush may capture 99.8% of this vote..


13 posted on 10/19/2004 7:53:46 AM PDT by ken5050
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To: .cnI redruM

I have posted before about a friend who recently retired from being a teacher and a principal.

He said that he was forced to be a closet republican or as this writer calls them a stealth voter. He learned the hard way when he dared to drive his vehicle with a Reagan sticker on the school parking lot.

He says that there are a lot of closet/stealth voters for Bush in the school systems in California and across the nation.

I hope that he and this writer are correct.


14 posted on 10/19/2004 7:56:14 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (When will ABCNNBCBS & the MSM fishwraps stop Rathering to America? Answer: NEVER!)
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To: .cnI redruM

I've had what can only be called "anecdotal experience" with some of this.

I live on a quiet street here in Nashville and have the only Bush/Cheney yard sign on the block. Well, last weekend the local newspaper (The Tennessean) did a "man on the street" polling piece. I discovered that one of my neighbors was also a Bush supporter because he was part of the article. After teasing him about "coming out of the closet", I noticed that the only other yards signs on my street were in the yards of people who are over 60 - and most of them 80 or more - and, as stated earlier, they're all Kerry signs. This fits in with the old "Yellow Dog" gospel that took hold with FDR. I suspect that many of the younger folks are going to quietly vote Bush. The "Stealth Vote", indeed.

But, I think there's also a "Stealth Non-Vote" out there as well. I hope you'll indulge me as I explain my take which is, again, anecdotal: I've seen the anger of committed Democrats over the various tawdry comments from Kerry, from Edwards and from Edwards' wife. Of coure, they frame it as disgust with both sides because they're not going to admit it's their guys who are the problem. "They all do it" is the classic Democrat admission that their guy is scum. It's my opinion that a lot of them are simply going to "not vote". They won't vote Bush, but they can't stomach voting for Kerry. And - they'll never, ever admit to it.


15 posted on 10/19/2004 8:04:39 AM PDT by Emmett McCarthy
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To: Emmett McCarthy
The "Stealth Non-VOte" is almost as good.
16 posted on 10/19/2004 8:06:32 AM PDT by .cnI redruM ("Two Kerrys for the two Americas.")
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To: .cnI redruM

Yes, I agree. Anything that pulls the rug out from under Demleftsocialists, especially for the next 4 years, is good and useful. To get maximum advantage from the "Stealth Non-Vote", we need to turn out in absolute droves - tidal waves. It's as if you're in a gunfight and a good number of the bad guys have thrown down their weapons. That leaves you free to kill the rest of the bad guys - TWICE!


17 posted on 10/19/2004 8:35:39 AM PDT by Emmett McCarthy
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To: .cnI redruM
We've all met lifelong Democrats who quietly admit they support Mr. Bush this year,

It's true, and Kerry's got to be nervous about this. I suspect that there are many Dims out there who will be voting for Bush but will not tell their rabid Bush-hating buddies...

18 posted on 10/19/2004 8:40:25 AM PDT by T. Buzzard Trueblood (Behind every terrorist, there's a tyrant with a checkbook.)
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To: T. Buzzard Trueblood
Even as someone who doesn't support Kerry and who everyone knows doesn't support Kerry, I sit tight and ignore them just because they are a$$-holes and I really have no desire to discuss politics with them.
19 posted on 10/19/2004 8:47:18 AM PDT by .cnI redruM ("Two Kerrys for the two Americas.")
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To: .cnI redruM

My Florida Democrat sister is voting for Bush. She truly shocked me when she called. She's called Bush all the nasty names you could think of. This time, she quietly told me that she trusts him to deal with the terrorists. She said that Kerry truly frightens her.


20 posted on 10/19/2004 8:55:24 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (Save a Democrat! Vote Republican!)
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