Small correction - this wasn't strictly to do with crawling across broken glass
We coined this phrase when Democrats were shooting at Republican offices just before the last Presidential election - breaking the windows. Their bulleyboy tactics were likened to "KristelNacht": - hence the expression "we're Broken Glass Republicans!" - we survived the Democrat Terror (such as it was!)
Hope this is helpful and fits other peoples rememberances.
I remember it the way it was defined in the article.
I've included both definitions in my file now.
Actually, the term was used prior to the 1994 elections by a pollster on CNN (and maybe other places, I didn't get FNC back then) referring to GOP voters who were so desparate to get to the polls to vote against anything related to Bill Clinton that they would crawl over broken glass. But I totally accept more later and more literal uses which are completely valid.
I've only been a registered FReeper since 2000, but I lurked since before the Clinton impeachment- hence the "hadit2here" nym, or "I've had it up to here with the Bent One/Liberals." And I seemed to remember "broken glass Republican" being used long before the last Presidential election (2004).
Sure enough, according to Kristinn's letter to the FEC here, the phrase was coined on FR prior to the 2000 election, while BillyJeff and Hillary Rotten Clinton were still despoiling the White House.
Didn't want to "pee in your cornflakes", but did want to set the record straight. [grin]
Thanks to soccer8 for putting this together in one thread. Really brings back memories...