Posted on 08/12/2008 9:30:15 AM PDT by Signalman
WESLEY CHAPEL, FLA. -- The first in an occasional series.
-- Cheap mortgages and cheap gas built this sprawling landscape of tan and gray stucco homes, iron gates and golf course communities. And the people who flocked here over the last decade -- upwardly mobile young families in pursuit of lower taxes and wholesome neighborhoods -- emerged as a Republican voting bloc crucial to President Bush's 2004 reelection.
* Feeling the pinch Feeling the pinch
But listen to Anna Rodriguez and her neighbors who gather nightly on lawn chairs to unwind, and a change comes into focus that could shift the national political landscape in 2008 and beyond.
The boom that turned swamps and pastures into a suburban mecca has stopped dead. Now the talk is about plummeting home values, rising food costs, and gas prices that make the once-painless half-hour commute to Tampa a financial strain. It's enough to give some here the sense that maybe, this time around, the Republicans do not deserve their votes.
"This is the first election I ever actually looked at someone else other than the Republican candidate," said Rodriguez, 33, who is studying to be a teacher and is a fixture at the lawn chair hobnob here on Greely Court, a quiet cul-de-sac in a Pasco County subdivision called Wrencrest.
"I've had enough with the Republican economics," she added, as her husband, Danny, who had just driven from his banking job in Tampa, piped in: "No more Bush."
The Rodriguezes were sitting in a neighbor's driveway with several other regulars as the kids played in the street. From their chairs, the parents could see evidence of changing times: home-for-sale signs in both directions, with overgrown lawns marking the foreclosures.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Heres another one-lol. Not even going to waste my time finding out the guy has always been a liberal , has given money to libs, etc. They tried it with that female “pastor”, then the “evangelical” guy, now this one. Yawn...
OK “former” not the most accurate word. “Previous” is better.
Ever notice how, in each and every election cycle, the press manages to find a bunch of "fed up" "lifelong Republicans" to interview?? No agenda here!!!
My son is a teacher living in Wesley Chapel. He & his wife will be voting Republican.
“I’ve been a lifelong Republican, but....”
(yawn)
Funny how I have NEVER seen in the socialist libtard press:
“I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, but....”
Hey, MSM: The free ride is over. You can't get away with this crap anymore.
Silly people who seem to believe that the President has an "Economy" knob in his bedroom, and is free to adjust it to the setting he chooses.
Fer cryin' out loud, morons! The economy is just bit more complicated than that!
More BS from the LAT as the readership continues in a downward spiral.
This is a hit piece in a Democrat targeted area.
If not mistaken, this is the Gus Bilirakis (R) district. He won acclaim when he turned down a appropriations committee seat in order to work on the veterans affairs committee to continue the work of his father on the same committee.
I doubt very much these anecdotes are REAL Republicans. I bet the female teacher is just a republican by marriage at best.
The Democrats are targiting this I-4 end of the corrodor and this is an LA Times partisan piece.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the average urban American voter. Add all those College age Marxist voters coming to the polls in record numbers and all logic becomes void.
That'll sure fix things. < /sarc>
“Ever notice how, in each and every election cycle, the press manages to find a bunch of “fed up” “lifelong Republicans” to interview”
Every election, like clockwork.
My response? I just sent another check to the GOP.
usually the anecdote has a democrat wife and a republican husband eunach.
The la times is trying to draw a line to obama using one anecdote as a single point. (takes to two lines to make a point)
I bet this teacher unionista wanabe is a recycled homeless/disatisfied/soccermom/securitymom/nascarmom/homosexualmarriagemom or some other BS group.
Yeah, keeping more of your paycheck just sucks! Don't worry, Obama will fix that little issue for you.
LLS
Hey lady, Bush isn't running. Look at the city council in your community and look for what they have done to stifle commuters. Are they pushing centralized "smart growth" with penalties (but still taxes) for those living in the suburbs?
And what about offshore drilling?
She has to point to some economic plans from Obama and Pelosi if she thinks the Democrats are going to HELP her.
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