Posted on 08/17/2004 11:55:44 AM PDT by rface
Daryl Renschler said he's going to do something he has not done since 1976 - vote for the Democratic candidate for president.
In the era of Watergate and Vietnam, the lifelong Republican gave his support to Jimmy Carter. Today, nearly three decades later, Renschler finds himself again mistrusting the government and hating what he contends has become a quagmire of a war.
Come November, he'll vote for John Kerry.
"We were misled during the Vietnam War ... and they're misleading us now," said Renschler. "Normally, a war unites a country. This one split it.
"I don't know what we're doing in Iraq. Someone gets you in a mess; you need someone else to clean it up," he said. "Kerry has a better approach to extract us from this mess we're in."
The Solebury resident is part of the recently formed Bucks Republicans for Kerry, which hopes to get people to vote - particularly younger constituents - against George Bush.
"I'm ashamed to be associated with [the Republican Party]," Renschler said.
Across the country, groups are popping up in support of the opposition. And it's not only Republicans for Kerry. There are Democrats for George Bush, too, though that group has not manifested locally. Experts say issues like the war in Iraq and the economy drive voters to Kerry, and gay marriage and abortion push them to Bush.
"It's [one thing] to quietly say, 'I can't do it this time.' To do it more publicly is unusual," said Joan Hulse Thompson, an associate professor of political science at Arcadia University. "People are not just satisfied to vote against [George Bush] but to organize against him. That's a step beyond."
Sue Tinsman is taking that step. The 82-year-old lifelong Republican ticks off her beefs with Bush like clockwork. The war. The loss of international support. The economy. The environment. Education.
"I could go on and on. This is the most important election in our history," said the Solebury resident, who says her choice this year could even strain relations with longtime friends. "I'm a moderate Republican, but I don't think our administration is currently moderate. It's extremely conservative. Kerry is a moderate Democrat. There's not much difference between them and moderate Republicans."
In every election, voters cross party lines. There were Democrats for Richard Nixon and Republicans for George McGovern in 1972 - many of them split over the Vietnam War.
Election 2004 is no exception. According to Clay Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll Institute, the crossover vote this year is about average, between 7 percent to 10 percent for each side. That's based on polls the institute has taken in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey and New York.
"There are not any large numbers yet. It's not heavily organized," Richards said. "It's not as much as the Reagan Democrats [who tended to be blue-collar union members]."
Some experts reason that Democrats will support Bush because they may support the war and they don't want to change the commander-in-chief at a time of continual fighting. But the real catalyst could be gay marriage.
"People are cross-pressured. They want to vote [on] certain issues but can't get it all with one candidate," said Hulse Thompson.
Same-sex marriage could push conservative Democrats, including Catholics and religious black men, to Bush's side, she said. Bush favors a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, while Kerry opposes same-sex marriage, but supports civil unions.
"People get confused on it," said Frank Colon, a political science professor at Lehigh University. Some, said Colon, think Kerry favors gay marriage, partially because his home state is Massachusetts, the first to issue licenses to gay couples.
Ted Morgan, also a professor of political science at Lehigh, says he's not surprised a Republican group for Kerry would crop up in Bucks County.
"It's exactly where I expect it to come from. It's an affluent area. There are old-money Republicans, and most are alienated by Bush. Kerry doesn't freak them out. He's one of them," he said. "Bucks is kind of interesting. It's kind of progressive. The religious right being in politics scares them. They're more libertarian."
Bucks County has always been a stronghold of Republicans. As of Aug. 7, there were 201,870 registered Republicans and 164,551 registered Democrats in the county. But the Democratic candidates at the top of the ticket in major elections in recent years have carried Bucks. Both Bill Clinton and Al Gore did it, as did Ed Rendell in his gubernatorial bid in 2002.
"Republicans, too, rallied around Rendell, and maybe that's being tapped to some degree [now]," said Colon. "Rendell is not a great coattail, but he may have given [Republican voters] pause to think, 'Maybe I'm going to continue in this direction.' In Bucks, there's a stronger independent group than people think."
Joseph Duffy, a Republican from Solebury, said he intends to vote Democrat in November.
"Kerry is a mixed-up fellow," he said. "But he's a far better choice than Bush."
Hilary Bentman can be reached at 215-538-6380 or hbentman@phillyBurbs.com
Lifelong RATs pretending to be disgruntled Republicans is nothing new. Happens every election, and the RAT media plays along.
Aside from Zed Miller and that other guy who just switched can you name a Democrat who is going to vote for the President? One that you personally know? No? I would really be concerned about this anecdotal evidence then.
Me included, for his stupid comment that the Poles weren't dominated by the Soviets. I think that one comment alone cost him the election.
They're just Republicans who watch too much CNN and not enough Fox News. Move along please, nothing to see here.
Ah, but to the media, this is HUGE! For a Dem to crossover to the republican side is not uncommon. But for a conservative to become a liberal!?!?!?!?! This is the Dems nocturnal emission.
Hugh has posted today a May 8, 2000 article from U.S. News & World Report by Kevin Whitelaw. "Another whopper", Hewitt calls it.
Here's how it starts: Sen. John Kerry made his first forays into Cambodia during the Vietnam War as a Navy lieutenant on clandestine missions to deliver weapons to anticommunist forces. This is a must read. Don't miss it! This is becoming a stone rolling down a hill. You can't stop it.
I don't think this is a conservative becoming a liberal. This is a democrat who registered as a republican saying he's voting for a democrat. STOP THE PRESSES!!!
"Depends... I like to think of myself as fiscally conservative and you can imagine in that respect Bush has a been a huge failure. Upsetting to no end really."
I understand that, they are all too liberal for me but if he thinks Kerry is a moderate, who could possibly be a liberal in his eyes?
Carter was the worst President in my lifetime. I certainly wouldn't brag about voting for him.
... Kerry has a better approach to extract us from this mess we're in.
He does? Has he told anyone yet?
I don't see too many republicans proudly endorsing John Kerry. However there are notable democrats endorsing George Bush.
"People are cross-pressured. They want to vote [on] certain issues but can't get it all with one candidate," said Hulse Thompson.
They never will either . All national elections are about voting for the lesser Ms. Thompson .
I think we should start "Democrats for Bush"....After all, I voted for Reagan and he was a Democrat at one point of his life.
Kerry doesn't have the stones to endorse gay "marriage," but he is on record as opposing doing anything to stop it. He, Kennedy and others signed a letter some years ago opposing an amendment to the Massachusetts state constitution that would have outlawed gay marriage.
Bottom line: Kerry supports gay marriage by default because he supports letting the courts decide the issue, while he and other liberal legislators duck it.
I have more respect for Barney Frank on this issue than Kerry. At least Barney Frank has a position on it (no pun whatsoever intended)
Its that way in Montco and NE Philly too. I have yet to see a Kerry sign anywhere in the Metro area besides a few bumper stickers. Lots of Bush signs though.
You'll never see an interview from someone who is unhappy about Bush because he's not whacking the Islamic fascists nearly hard enough (cases in point - Fallujah, Abu Gharib, Norman Mineta) but I bet there are several millions who feel that way.
No AMERICAN in their right mind would vote for Kerry.
So they dont like Bush, what the hell, there are a lot of thing I dont like about Bush either. But My God, look at what he is running against.
A pro-communist, Liar,a man who makes up stories of Cambodia out of whole cloth, a gigolo, a man who has voted against our military every chance he got,A man who spent 19 years in Congress without making 77% of the votes.WAKE UP. Look at his clowns record during and after Viet nam. Do you really believe the Swift boat veterans put their lives and reputations on the line just because they dont like Kerry? They know what is at stake here.our country is at stake.
What do I care about Europeans who dont like us, they formed a coalition of Euro's to destroy us and our economy and you think they are our allies. Wake up.
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