In 2003 there were 36 million independent votes. Bush got 18 million and Kerry got 18 million. There were 41 million Republican votes for Bush.
There were 3 million Reagan Democrats who voted for Bush. Another name for Reagan Democrats is evangelical Christians. Bush got 300,000 Democrat evangelical votes in Ohio in 2004. Bush won Ohio by 60,000 votes.
What you fail to understand is about 70 Percent of EVANGELICALS are REGISTERED DEMOCRATS. They are called the Religious right by the media but they are mostly registered Democrats. They will vote for Republicans on the ABORTION ISSUE, and GUNS. They are really concerned about the Supreme court.
A typical Bush rally audience in 2004 contained about 10 percent Democrats nearly all of which had been Reagan Democrats. They voted for Bush.
Back in 1980 I covered the Reagan Campaign. The MSM pundits were shocked that Reagan mentioned his opposition to abortion in every speech in the industrial Midwest and in the South. The media thought it would cost Reagan votes. But Reagan told me that there were about 7 Million Evangelical Democrats and he intended to get the majority of their votes based on the abortion and gun issues.
He said those in favor of abortion did not make it a deciding issue. That is, the most pro abortion voters would vote for an anti abortion candidate if they liked his views on other issues. However anti abortion Evangelical will not vote for a pro abortion candidate.
That has proved to be the case.
So McCain has chosen a woman whose positions on corruption and just being a woman will create a gender gap for the Democrats among independents. And her views on abortion and the fact that McCain chose her will get them the majority of Reagan Democrats.
McCain already has a 9 percent lead in independent voters. A woman on the ticket will increase that lead. What most fools don't realize that anti gun and pro abortion became an minority issue in 1980. By 2,000 the DNC was advising pro abortion Democrat candidates to NEVER BRING UP THE SUBJECT OF ABORTION OR GUN CONTROL. It could only hurt them and the party.
Anti Abortion, and Pro gun are majority positions with independents as are tax cuts, and reduced government spending. They are the reason Hillary care went down in defeat. Nearly all independents have employer paid health care. The last thing they want to for taxpayer paid health care. They understand that they are the ones who would have to pay for it.
And Palin will kick Joe Biden a massive new one in the debates. She is very very smart and Joe is very very dumb. She can out think him and out smart him at every turn.
The persons who will rue the day they made a nomination are the Democrats who nominated Obama. He is going to make Dukakis look like a man who knew how to win elections.
“Another name for Reagan Democrats is evangelical Christians”
Are you sure about this. I thought that “Reagan Demorcats” were the Northern “blue-collar” union member types who worked in factories and restaurants and who were former Democrats who didn’t like the way the party had turned too far to the left. I never thought of them as evangelical Christians. See the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_Democrat