See if you can wrap your head around this one:
Washington Post
Piece by piece, as the economy has faltered and as the subprime mortgage crisis has taken hold, Ivan Toledo's grasp on his job, his house -- his entire middle-class life -- has come undone.
His decision? Vote Republican.
Oh, my.
Mr. Toledo moved to Florida because he liked baseball and could be close to the majors' training grounds. He had a good job and bought a house. Good for him.
But then he got tired of his job and quit around the same time his wife got pregnant and had to quit work. With mounting bills, the obvious answer was to take out another loan on the house. But guess what? Oh, that teaser rate caught up with them and now they can't pay their mortgage. He can't find another job because he's either over-qualified or - how dare he - he wants more money than they're willing to pay.
Now?
On Thursday, Toledo sat in his kitchen, studying a $104.95 electric bill he cannot afford to pay. For several months the bill has been covered by a county fund that assists impoverished families. He and his wife also receive federal food stamps to buy milk, juice and cereal for Roberto. The Toledos said they have done all they know to do, including holding several garage sales.
And they don't have insurance, either.
The very kind of person a Republican can't stand. What happened to his personal responsibility? Where's his family so he wouldn't have to accept those God-awful food stamps?
He used to think of himself as a Democrat (even though he voted for Charlie Crist (R), Florida's governor because ol' Charlie wants to cut property taxes. That would be those property taxes that helps the county fund that assists impoverished families, like him.
But Ivan's gonna vote Tuesday.
...but it is the Republicans whose talk of turning around the economy speaks to him now. He plans to vote in Tuesday's Republican primary here and is deciding between former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who he sees as a tax-cutter who turned around that city, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, whose business credentials he admires.
I sympathize with the guy. No one's perfect. But someone needs to pull this guy off to the side and tell him the facts of life.