Which kind of one issue voter is the biggest problem for Democrats?

[undeterred]

Poll question: Which kind of one issue voter is the biggest problem for Democrats?

Poll result (81 votes)
Abortion/Stem Cell/Right to lifers	(22 votes, 27%)	Vote
Gun/NRA	(7 votes, 9%)	Vote
Those who only care about their taxes	(37 votes, 46%)	Vote
Homophobes	(4 votes, 5%)	Vote
Fundamentalists who want a theocracy	(6 votes, 7%)	Vote
Hawks who like military spending and war	(2 votes, 2%)	Vote
Other	(3 votes, 4%)	Vote

[billbuckhead]

1. Our toughest states are defined by fundementalist Christians

[Jed Dilligan]

20. Is that spelling error on purpose?

Because it's pretty effin' funny: "fun-dement-alists."

[calico1]

2. I know so many people who are not

religious nuts, are pro choice, believe in women's rights but will vote for Republicans for one reason--they believe only Republicans lower taxes and that Democrats will tax them to death. They don't understand that the tax breaks are for the wealthiest and it doesn't really benefit them. But they have bought into the Republican myth of low taxes, strong economy with Republicans. If the Democrats could win these middle of the road people and get them to understand that Democratic policies help, not hurt them then the religious wackos would not be able to win elections for the Republicans.

[Union Thug]

3. I voted for the tax haters...

They are typically cold-hearted, narcissistic, self-centered pricks. There's no sense even talking with them.

[undeterred]

4. There are a mix of these types in Sensenbrenner's district

(I'm working for his Democratic challenger). I knew about the large number of one issue Catholic voters who only care about the abortion issue. But I think there are an even larger number who have made some money and now they can never get enough. They are just like Sensenbrenner- he is a multi millionaire who once one a quarter million in a lottery and didn't give a dime of it away. Their God is money.

[Radical Activist]

5. they get working class voters with the abortion issue.

It is their most powerful wedge.

[omega minimo]

6. Missed it by a mile-- not even a choice. Corporatism. Spoiled brats.

The enormous block of non-voters
who would vote Democratic
if they saw that Party
address the corporatism
that is choking the nation and dominating the Congress.

They join the Republican Lite block with copping out
to "Both sides do it"
and refusing to vote at all, for the Lesser of Evils
while they wait for the system
to burn itself out. Spoiled brats.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. Yea, seems to me the non voter is the biggest problem

One thing I have yet to understand about campaigns is why nobody has ever tried focusing all of their resources on people that didn't vote last time instead of on people who voted for the other guy last time.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

12. Agreed

They get dismissed as apathetic when that's not the case at all. There's no such thing as an apathetic human being. The human mind seeks information. The problem is that corporations are filling minds with junk, including the "they're all the same" political message. The non-voters are making an active choice. They're saying "NO!" to candidates who look exactly alike to them.

And you find something interesting emerge, demographically speaking, when you look at who doesn't vote: Single, childless people up to about age 50. Hello! Does this surprise anyone? All we hear about is Family Values and The Children. If you are not married and/or a parent you don't count. You are this unsavory, marginalized person we pretend doesn't exist. Well, until tax time when you get to pay out the wazoo, no matter who is in office.

These people should be a natural target for Democrats. But they ignore them to chase after Soccer Moms and Nascar Dads.

[undeterred]

17. There are a lot of people who choose not to vote

and its fruitless to try to talk them into it. I've tried.

[omega minimo]

19. Well put

"One thing I have yet to understand about campaigns is why nobody has ever tried focusing all of their resources on people that didn't vote last time instead of on people who voted for the other guy last time."

[Totallybushed]

7. Your mistake,

is in considering these to be single issue voters. There's an awful lot of overlap between them.

I vote "other"

[bluedogyellowdog]

8. It's abortion

or the religious right in general. People who are swayed by issues like: anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-pr0n, anti-stem cell research, pro-school prayer, pro-large families with many babies, evangelical mega-church members, get all hysterical about purported "war on Christmas" or purported attempts to take "in God we trust" off the money, and "safety mommies" with SUVs who respond to hysterical appeals to "protect the children" from abortion, porn, drugs, gangs, terra, smoking, Satanic rock & roll lyrics, and the other phantom threats.

The religious right is the Repugs' secret weapon for increasing their turnout. It has been their secret weapon for turning Democratic states red - like Tennessee, Ohio, Iowa, and West Virginia. (when and how the HELL did Iowa and West Virginia of all places become Republican states??!!)

[Jed Dilligan]

22. Yes.

That's who it is. No question about it.

However, I'd say the even greater threat to our chances comes from elements in our party pandering to the Protect the Children crowd. It kept me away from the polls right up until 2000, and I think it drives off more nonvoters than you think.

Remember, the party that wins every election is whatever the nonvoters are voting for.

[Hidden Stillness]

10. Pro-Corporate, Anti-Government Libertarians

I think the worst kind is this corporate-libertarian kind that hates Government itself, the stupid working employees who think they are "capitalists," who don't even know what taxes, regulations, and other activities of government are for. The stupid type who believe that if you just "clear away" all the pesky, "oppressive" "obstructions" of laws and other people's rights and things, that corporations could really soar, and if corporations weren't burdened with having to be held back by law and democracy, that they "would give their employees more," that they would pay "more" if they weren't required by law to have a minimum wage, pay benefits that a union negotiated, etc. The type that thinks that regulations that protect, actually make things worse, and hurt working people, etc.

The stupid type that thinks that anyone who turns to a Government department or regulation for help, is "dependant," and "needs to be weaned off of reliance on the Government," the type that feels "oppressed" that there is a Government with any power over anything, at all. You get the idea--the totally corporate, anti-government type that considers government itself to be a hostile power, and big business to be "freedom." They are against any and every program that would help anyone--"lazy, dependant on Government"--except corporate welfare and subsidies, which are suddenly "investments" and "entrepeneurs." "I sign the front of the check, not the back." They are the biggest drain, the biggest freeloaders, and they think they are the hardiest pioneers.

Small-government, deregulating, anti-government corporate types: the worst. The antithesis of everything good, and they understand nothing.

[Jed Dilligan]

21. They may be individually distasteful,

but I doubt they are the biggest chunk of the electorate opposing us.

I'd say it's the Repukes who want MORE government in our lives--in our wombs and in our bedrooms, deciding what music we will hear and what shows we will watch--who are larger in numbers and a greater threat to democracy.

[DaveJ]

11. Other - Lack of media appeal

Republicans know how to work the media, like all terrorists. On TV they give us the explosions, secret prisons, psychopaths, child predators, domestic spying, and a myriad of other things which, while bad, catch the eye of the lowest common denominator. That's partly why Air America has trouble, who wants to listen to the boring world of governing a civilized society? It's much more fascinating to watch the end of the world.

[LostInAnomie]

13. Abortion

Without a doubt, abortion.

Many of them would be Democratic voters. They want to help the poor, they want strong social security, they want public education to be healthy, but they will never vote with us because of that one issue.

[Keepontruking]

14. Problem???

Doesn't our pledge of allegiance say "under God...with
liberty and justice for all"  Ok first of all abortion
is a womans right because that baby is not a person until a
certain time and no Doc is going to perform an abortion after
a certain time.I don't care what those idiots argue.I went to
nursing school and learned the whole process...I don't want
an abortion, but I wouldn't judge anybody who did. Our Pledge
says a lot and we seem to have forgotten it and it is time to
remember it NOW!!!!!!!!  It fights against what the repugs
are trying to force upon us.  Remember live and let live I
would love to go back to those days ...I feel so threatened
now.....Circus Girl 

[Raksha]

15. I voted for the tax haters. There are some on another forum I frequent.

The most cold-hearted bunch you can imagine. Some are fundies and some are Randian libertarian atheists, but what they all have in common is the fear that one thin dime of their tax money might conceivably benefit someone less fortunate. The billions of dollars the Bush mafia throws down the drain don't seem to bother them, though.

[Norquist Nemesis]

24. Agree 100%

That's what my vote was for as well. The 'tax man' is the biggest monster on the planet with these people which is why Newt and Reagan so easily ushered in the 'tax and spend liberal' tattoo, IMO. It drives me up and over the wall!

Trying to have a discussion about it is a futile exercise. "It's MY money!" OK, dickweed, you can start taking bids for building and maintaining roads, keeping your air breathable, helping to find jobs for the unemployed, covering food, housing, education, and medical bills for orphaned children, enforcing labor safety standards, air traffic safety standards, disaster relief, police protection, fire protection, clean water standards, prescription drugs, food safety, etc., etc., etc. Let's see how far "your" money goes.

Another part of the problem is that most of them don't have a clue how government budgets work and the constraints placed on them. Imagine if, at the beginning of the year, their business was required to lock into place each line item. Throughout the year there is no wiggle room to take money from commodities and move it into contractual services, travel, or payroll. You get what you get and you have to spend it all...if you don't, then obviously you don't need the same amount the following year. Nevermind that a natural disaster occurred, the price of oil jumped 150%, and the contract for your copy paper delivers a sub-standard product. Too bad, so sad.

Sorry, had to vent.

[bklyncowgirl]

16. Abortion, stem-cell research particularly conservative religious Catholics.

Democrats will never get the low taxes shrink the government crowd. They will also never get the hard core fundamentalist vote or the votes of crazed NRA types. What is killing them is the religious person--usually Catholic--who may agree with them on economic issues but sees opposition to abortion as the core principle of their religion and weight it higher on the scale than other issues where their Church agrees whole heartedly with Democrats.

Unless these conservative Catholic voters can be convinced to look at their beliefs as a whole and not make abortion the be all and end all of their political lives as progressive Catholics do, then Democrats will fail to win these people who should be voting for them on other issues. Seeing the trends in the Catholic Church under Pope Benedict, this seems highly unlikely.

[distantearlywarning]

18. I voted for tax haters.

I totally don't get that argument at all. I have heard it at least 3 times on Scarborough in the last two weeks though ("but Democrats will raise your taxes!"). And each time I think, is that really the most important problem facing this country today? What kind of person thinks that the possibility that their taxes might be raised by $3 or something is more important than anything else going on in the US right now.???? It's ludicrous.

And for that matter, I haven't really noticed any reduction in my taxes since the Republicans took office. If there has been one, it must have been small enough that it didn't affect my lifestyle any. And I certainly didn't notice any massive tax burden when Clinton was in office. What are we talking about here - max $200 bucks a year or something??? It's not like I was paying 80% when Clinton was president and nothing now. So who gives a crap about taxes? The massively rich are the only ones who should worry about this, but the way you hear it on TV, every single person bringing home $1000 a year should be up in arms about it, and make it the most important issue in their lives.

"Oh My God, I might have to pay $50 more a year! It's breaking my bank account! How dare those scoundrels in Congress rob me of my rightfully earned extra $50???"

How stupid and ridiculously self-centered.

If we have to pay taxes at all, it doesn't really matter if it's $200 a year or $250. Especially not when you're talking about other issues at stake like global warming, the war in Iraq, the erosion of civil rights, etc. Any tax hater who doesn't make more than $100K a year needs to chill the f*** out. Seriously. If that's you, you're being a moron.

[Norquist Nemesis]

25. In 2004, I had someone tell me he couldn't vote for Kerry because

his taxes would go up $1200. I was stunned and asked him if he'd really read his plan. When he said yes, I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, "Then you're making a helluva lot more money that I thought."

Thing is, he is the principal of my daughter's school (private school that we struggled to pay a shitload of money to get her educated). I was pissed, to say to the least.

[undeterred]

26. When people get that specific

you can tell they're only thinking about themselves. The guy doesn't care which candidiate is better for education in general, just about his own wallet. Not my idea of a good principal.

[Norquist Nemesis]

27. Got that right. It's the "All About Me and Mine"

Putting your family as the first priority is absolutely the right thing to do. But, so many fail to connect that support for programs that the government has oversight for IS taking care of your family.

Frankly, I don't thing he did the math correctly. LOL!

As far as him being a good principal, yes he was absolutely a fantastic principal. It's long and extremely complicated.

[Little Star]

23. Its the money Baby!! Greed is the driving force

all the other is just moral cover for greed. Yeah, there are a few fruit-Loops who really have self righteousness but most just use moral issues as cover imho.