Free Republic

Nowhere land As US towns sprawl into the countryside, creating anonymous zones dominated by soulless malls, one of Britain's leading historians asks if it could happen here Tristram Hunt Sunday February 20, 2005 Observer Take a ride along the I-10 out of Phoenix, Arizona, and witness the birth of a new civilisation. Under the arching desert sky, cotton fields are being transformed into condominiums; cactus wilderness into master-planned communities. This year some 60,000 new homes will spread out along the valley landscape. Similar developments are underway across America: in Florida, ancient citrus groves are coming down for housing lots; in...

NEW YORK - In Illinois politics, the old adage about nice guys finishing last will be turned on its head this fall. Nice guys - and women - will win the suburbs. If President Bush and Illinois Republicans hope to win Illinois, they must focus on the suburbs, say moderate GOP members. Both around Chicago and around the nation, the suburban vote is considered in play largely because the people who call the suburbs home refuse to be pinned down by politics. And the first key to winning their votes is to tone down the partisan rhetoric. That's the advice...

<p>NASCAR dads are generally white, working class and rural -- as well as racing fans -- and they could emerge as a leading demographic force in the 2004 elections.</p> <p>“Sometime they vote, sometime they don’t, and when they do, they tend to vote Republican, but can be persuaded to vote for a populist Democrat,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, describing the NASCAR dads (search).</p>

Democrats thanked soccer moms for their success in the 1990s. But "office park dads" could spell their doom in 2004, warns Democratic pollster Mark Penn. Penn told a June meeting of the New Democrat Network that white males prefer the GOP 2-to-1. Just 24% of white males consider themselves Democrats; 53% call themselves Republicans. That's even worse for Democrats than Al Gore did in 2000. Gore got 36% of white male votes — less than Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. President Bush won 61% of white men with college degrees, 63% of white men without degrees and 62% of...

<p>The unchallenged reign of the "soccer mom" -- the darling of Democratic pollsters and candidates just two years ago -- is officially over.</p> <p>The women whose concern for education, environment and health care drove the 2000 presidential election now must share their demographic throne with their husbands, the "office park dads" whose brows are furrowed over the economy, national security and defense.</p>