[This is my first attempt at a diary so be gentle]
First a little background. I live in a small town on the Washington / Idaho border, population around 45,000 including the other small towns surrounding the area.
Now for my story.... I was working the other day and a woman walked in wearing an Obama button. I don't see very many of them around my town so I commented on it and we ended up getting into a conversation about the local politics. She told me she had just moved here from a large metro area and was actually a bit frightened to put out her Obama sign because of all the McCain signs her neighbors had up, she wasn't sure how they would react to a "traitor" in their midst. Then she asked me a question, "What is the deal with all these Wal-Mart republican's that live here ?" I couldn't help but to laugh because I knew just what she meant....
The people that live around my neck of the woods I consider to be "good" people. They are mostly white, hard working, poor-middle class, Christians that have never voted for anyone except a republican. What the lady I met couldn't understand is why these people were so pro-McCain when all of them would benefit a lot more from an Obama presidency.
The reason they won't vote to help themselves financially is because these people are "Social" conservatives. For one thing they don't expect their government to help them get by even when they desperately could use the help. Secondly, they seem to think that the only people who do benefit from government help is people who don't deserve it "People who never work a day in their lives and keep popping out kids to get their tax dollars" and the last and most important reason these "Wal-Mart" republicans don't vote Democrat is because they believe that if a Democrat gets elected all their daughters are going to end up with black babies, gays will have sex in the street, people will start marrying goats and Abortions will start being offered by the School nurse.
These people don't want to extend the Bush tax cuts, they don't want smaller government, they just want their way of life protected and the ability to provide for their families. For too long Republicans have won not on issues but on fear and ignorance and if it wasn't for the financial crisis it would be so again this year... Finally these people have woken up and realized that forcing their morals and their way of life on other people isn't the most important issue facing our country and it only took a financial melt-down to bring them around.