If anyone could be described as a security mom I suppose it would be me. It's not the only issue with me but it's definitely on my list. We live just north of DC, and I was at my desk downtown the morning of September 11th. I can remember that morning like it was yesterday. We could see the smoke rising up from the Pentagon from the roof of our building. I took the metro in and hubby knew I'd have trouble getting home, so he bundled our infant daughter into the car and tried to drive in to get me. Needless to say, the cops stopped him before he got even a few blocks into town.
And hey let's face it - I live at Ground Zero here.
It took a while for it to set in, but as the months passed I became more and more nervous about going into the city every day for work. What if someone gassed the metro system? What if there was another attack & I couldn't get home to my young children? At one point, I was considered for a new (higher paying) job in an office right near the White House, but I turned in down for a lower paying job in the suburbs.
Make the jump...
Things have changed for me since 9/11. Don't' get me wrong - it's not like I was taping up a safe-room in our house or stocking up on bottled water - but security's definitely important to me as a mother. We do have a grab-and-go bag of stuff for the kids - just in case.
The only difference is that Bush never had my support. And he never will. I just happen to think the Dems will do a better job on this issue - Junior's been a miserable failure on this and so many other tasks. I think other moms are starting to wake up to that fact.
At any rate - it looks as if the GOP's losing what support they had among other moms. The Washington Post ran an article today regarding this slip in the polls (http://www.washingtonpost.com/...) and I found it very interesting. It's a good sign that our candidates may do well come November.
Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and interviews.
This critical group of swing voters -- who are an especially significant factor in many of the most competitive suburban districts on which control of Congress will hinge -- is more inclined to vote Democratic than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001, according to data compiled for The Washington Post by the Pew Research Center.
Married mothers said in interviews here that they remain concerned about national security and the ability of Democrats to keep them safe from terrorist strikes. But surveys indicate Republicans are not benefiting from this phenomenon as they have before.
Disaffection with President Bush, the Iraq war, and other concerns such as rising gasoline prices and economic anxiety are proving more powerful in shaping voter attitudes.
The study, which examined the views of married women with children from April through this week, found that they support Democrats for Congress by a 12-point margin, 50 percent to 38 percent. That is nearly a mirror-image reversal from a similar period in 2002, when this group backed Republicans 53 percent to 36 percent. In 2004, exit polls showed, Bush won a second term in part because 56 percent of married women with children supported him.
Mirror-image of the exit polls in 2002 - I guess flip-flopping like this is a good thing! It doesn't look like the goopers got much of a bump from the latest scare out of London either - much as they'd like to capitalize on it.
Significantly, Pew and other polls in recent days have found little or no advantage for Republicans in the aftermath of last week's foiled terrorist plot in London, even as Vice President Cheney and GOP leaders have warned that the event showed the risk of voting for a Democratic Party that they say is dominated by security doves.
Andrew Kohut, who directs the Pew poll, said the "negative impact of Iraq is hurting not only Bush but also the Republican Party as well." No longer, Kohut said, is "terrorism alone enough to keep" married women and other voters in the GOP fold.
Yet the shift is not attributable to Iraq alone. Elizabeth Moore, a married mother of one, said she is frustrated by the war but sees no better alternative. "I am one of those who, when a bully slaps you in the face, you slap them back," she said.
Still, the self-described moderate Republican and Bush supporter said the military operation has distracted GOP lawmakers such as Pryce from equally important issues back home. "Too much time in Washington," Moore scoffed, explaining why she is likely to vote for Pryce's Democratic opponent this time. She voted for Pryce in 2004.
All of this suggests that the latest campaign by the GOP to portray Democrats as wobbly on security will be harder to sell in today's climate. Republicans have tried to replicate past success in the wake of the London arrests and Iraq war opponent Ned Lamont's victory over Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in Connecticut's Democratic primary. Bush and GOP strategists calculated that both events would fan fears about national security and create a headwind for Democrats.
SNIP
But Pew -- in findings that echo three other polls released publicly this week -- found Bush and Republicans benefiting little, if at all, from Lieberman's defeat and the scare in Britain. There was a slight uptick in support for Bush's handling of terrorism, but voters remain broadly unhappy with the performance of Bush and the GOP Congress.
I care about keeping our country safe from attack. I also care about giving first responders what they need to respond if something happens - be it an attack or a natural disaster. And everything I've heard lately tells me we're not ready to deal with whatever might happen.
Let's see... the goopers are spending too much time in DC working on issues that aren't resonating with voters, and the fear thing isn't working any more. I smell victory - at least I'm more hopeful about the upcoming elections than I was before. This is a good thing.
I just wonder how we're doing with those NASCAR dads.