In W.Va., many Bush backers balk at $87b to rebuild Iraq

[underpants]

Some really good quotes in here. If these people are saying this W has trouble ahead. Not to long of a read.


By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff, 9/30/2003

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/30/in_wva_many_bush_backers_balk_at_87b_to_rebuild_iraq/

"People are losing confidence in the fact that the troops aren't coming home, and we should have gotten more help before going over there in the first place," said Martinsburg's mayor, George Karos, 72, a Navy veteran who owns one of the city's prime gathering places, Patterson's Drug Store.

A Democrat who voted for Bush in 2000, Karos pauses when asked whether he would back the president again. "At this juncture, no," he said.

But one number is stuck like a chicken bone in the throats of dozens of Martinsburg residents: $87 billion.

But war and its various costs have had a transforming effect. For many voters, the $87 billion is a direct link between Bush's decisions and their own pocketbooks

"Put it to the homeless before you send it over there," Bosley said.

"There are some things more important than money," said David Wilt, manager of Potomac Video.

"Economically, Clinton was the best we had," said Matthew Robertson, a nursing home aide. "We can't afford what Bush is doing."