Harold and Laura are in their late forties. They are financially comfortable and prudent. They work hard, and a ten-hour day for Hal is his version of slacking off. Their house is modest, far below what they could easily afford, and it's paid for. They may buy a new car every ten years, but usually they wait even longer. They are the first to help out family, friends and charitable organizations with their time and money, although they are not in the least bit religious. They support women's rights and are pro-choice. A family member is gay and not only is this person welcome in their home but lived with them along with a lover for a couple of years. They love nature and are deeply concerned about the environment. Their ethics are unimpeachable. They take walks, ride their bikes and play softball on weekends. They see plays, operas and movies regularly. They live in a very blue county in a very blue state.
And they are Republicans who voted for GWB. They inhabit one little corner under that Big GOP Tent and all the reframing and all the arguments in the world are not going to change them because they have a vested interest in one issue that for them always trumps everything else. That's the way with the Big GOP Tent; they are a collection of single-issue voters who can compartmentalize and wall themselves off from everything else the GOP does. Or maybe everything else is, to them, not all that different from what they hear from many Democrats, and therefore, they are free not to consider such issues. Invade Iraq? The choice was the "War President" and the man who would "fight the war better." The one who does nothing for the environment versus the one who would do a little. The one who gives us huge federal deficits versus the one who would make them only a bit smaller. Harold and Laura didn't even ask for or vote for lower taxes. They are federal government employees at the professional level who like their colleagues believe that the GOP supports the operation they work for better than the Democrats do. Yes, folks our tax dollars pay for the military, defense and security operations that breed employees who think that the federal government should invest more in them and is only precluded from doing so because so much is wasted on social programs that don't work and only reward lazy and clever freeloaders.