Why would any public employee vote Republican?

[SHRED]

I mean it is difficult enough sorting out Democratic candidates that are merely giving lip service to the public sector but we know how the Repubs feel.

And also, will Wisconsin wake up public sector workers who vote Republican? Will they finally see who is attacking them?


---

[XanaDUer]

1. I am sure SOME of those protesters voted for Scottie

and I'd love to know wth they are thinking now. Same thing with Rick Scott in FL. He's now making FL state workers pay 5% of their pensions and he campaigned on cutting state workers' jobs. I mean, if you're a state worker and vote for someone who campaigns on that issue, :wtf: is wrong with you?

[FBaggins]

17. I hope that some of them did... and that they speak up about it.

Do the protests represent an emerging majority in WI, or are they merely evidence that a very vocal minority happens to be quite good at getting people to show up to protest?

Put another way - You can't lose an election handily and yet insist that the people are with you and you should be able to control the agenda, unless there's reason to believe that some people who voted for the other side now say "oh THAT's what you were planning on pulling? Forget it!"

[NotThisTime]

34. Some of the Union members who voted and pushed for him are now protesting him

Whatever base he had is evaporating...

[Ohio Joe]

2. Because they only listen to sound bites

and do not pay attention to what is really happening. I would hope a lot of people wake up now but honestly... I don't expect it. Far to many rely on MSM for their information and that keeps them ill informed.

[CountAllVotes]

12. yes, you are so right

A friend of mine is a public employee. You'd think she'd be glad that she was represented by a union in this day in age.

However, she is married to a puke and she listens to his two-bit rants and believes them. :(

It is very sad IMO. She comes from a background similar to myself (my grandfather was one of the first teamsters in America), yet she worships that dollar bill. Everything revolves around that dollar bill. Since the market dropped and the big losses occurred, her husband's rants are much longer and more profuse.

Sadly, she did not know that people pay for Medicare and her husband has (had?) her believing that Medicare is free and that no cost is involved. When I told her it is not free, she laughed at me in a mocking way. I resented that greatly.

Her damned husband who speaks in those same sound bites he hears from Rush Limpballs is now causing her to be someone that I really don't want to have much to do with. This is quite sad to me as I've known her since 1986 when both of us worked together at this same public institution.

:evilfrown:

:dem:

[proud patriot]

20. +1

[The_Commonist]

3. Because they've been brainwashed...

...by the divide and conquer tactics used by the propagandists on the television machine?

[tularetom]

4. Hostility toward minorities for one thing

As a retired government bureaucrat I can tell you that a lot of public employees are unhappy with affirmative action type programs. In many cases they are convinced that they missed out on a promotion or a better job opportunity because the spot was given to a member of a minority group who was (in their mind anyway) less qualified.

Of course they have allowed their emotions to take over from their good sense and this makes them vote against their own economic well being.

[HereSince1628]

5. I would think they do that because they think it is in their interest

The Republican party is situated at the crossroads of traditional business Greed and the Jealousy of working class, working poor who feel they need to be careful about giving away what they have.

[tigereye]

6. people were angry about the economy,and failed to actually

THINK about the economy and what the consequences of their votes would be... sigh.

[Skidmore]

7. Well, I know public employees who voted for Branstad here in Iowa

and he's trying his own version of breaking the unions now. These people curse him everyday and all I can say to them is "What did you expect?"

[toddaa]

23. You should laugh at them instead

Making fun of their circumstance is something that a Republican can understand.

[Zoeisright]

8. Stupidity.

Anyone who isn't a rich white man who votes repukes is stupid. It's pretty simple.

[Overseas]

9. Propaganda is sophisticated and powerful. And as Noam Chomsky said

How did such extremism take hold in the liberal West? "It is necessary to destroy hope, idealism, solidarity, and concern for the poor and oppressed," observed Noam Chomsky a generation ago, and "to replace these dangerous feelings with self-centered egoism, a pervasive cynicism that holds that ... the state capitalist order with its inherent inequities and oppression is the best that can be achieved. In fact, a great international propaganda campaign is underway to convince people - particularly young people - that this not only is what they should feel but that it's what they do feel."

http://www.truth-out.org/behind-arab-revolt-a-word-we-dare-not-speak68036

[liberal N proud]

14. Bingo!

[cpamomfromtexas]

10. Because their preachers told them to

[C_U_L8R]

11. why would anyone

who works for a living vote republican?

It's one of those confounding questions...
they seem blinded by polarizing social straw constructs
and false dreams of easy riches.

[Peregrine Took]

13. I know a few that do. Both are very anti union, too.

With one, I believe it comes from her family who, even though middle aged, still follows their lead regarding conservative "values."

The other, probably the same about family plus he represented management in dealing with the union at work so he still hates them.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

15. They want the "freedom"

to get union benefits without having to pay their dues? They don't want their union dues to go paying for Democratic candidates even though the rest of us have to pay taxes for things that we don't always support either. :shrug:

[old mark]

16. K&R- Why would ANY working or retired person vote for republicans? Because

the republicans and their backers in the media lie continuously and make up false "issues" to turn people against anything in their own interest.

They have been doing this for many decades now, and some people never seem to get it...They rule and manipulate by spreading fear, and the fear they spread is based on fiction and delusion.


mark

[RZM]

33. Different people care about different issues

Ideological diversity is inherent in a two-party system (where ideas that would normally be spread among many parties are crammed into just two), but there are still broad packages associated with the two parties and you have to weigh your own opinions against each one when voting.

This is a constant battle and the genesis of Howard Dean's 'Confederate Flags' comment way back when. On economic issues, less well-off people should be voting Dem, but there's far more to public policy than just $$.

Plenty of working people do not support gun control, abortion, gay rights, affirmative action, secularization, or tolerance of illegal immigration . . . and very few people in any income bracket really enjoy paying taxes, though few have any problem taking advantage of what those tax dollars pay for. That's not to say every Democrat has the same opinion on all of them, but often Republicans and Democrats do tend to be on different sides of them -- and the further you get from the center, the sharper the divides are. Progressives and far-right types usually have no common ground at all on these types of issues (though at least opinions on drug policy are showing encouraging signs).

I disagree that these issues are entirely 'false,' or 'made up.' They are real and matter to people. I think perhaps your problem with them is that you think they SHOULDN'T matter to people. On some of them, I agree (for instance, I don't give a damn about guns either way). Think of it this way -- I'm sure there are plenty of wealthy, white LGBT folks who could never vote Republican because of gay rights, while at the same time you have pious Catholic union members who could never vote for any politician that supported the right to choose.

[old mark]

37. First, I am a progressive and Democratic voter for over 40 years, and against gun control...

but I am saying there are very few REAL issues that the GOP actually cares about in any way other than to use as a tool to manipulate voters.
The Democrats USED to be reliably in the corner of workers and the middle class, but I am not sure of this any more.
The GOP cares about absolutely NOTHING except how they are perceived and gaining more power for themselves and the rich. I agree it does not shake out into any neat category, because there are simply too many issues for 2 parties...but I have no doubt the GOP is not sincere in its espousal of ANY cause or philosophy except that of personal gain, ego stroking and further enriching their financial backers.


mark

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. There are cycles to hisory

remember granny did NOT vote for a Republican... but her grandson is... her grandson is NOW figuring this out, why granny never did. But many of Granny's parents did vote for them... then came the Great Depression.

Grandson or granddaughter, are having a come to jesus moment. They are realizing well THAT is why granny never voted for them republicans!

Yes they voted for them... and many of them will not do that AGAIN in their lives, and there is a good chance their children will not either. El Rushbo sounds great, right until it really affects you.

This is one of those political moments in the life of a country that will change voting patters for a generation I suspect. Things move faster these days... but this is a political earthquake, once people realize, oh you meant ME.

[ArnoldLayne]

19. I'm not a public employee but a Steelworker and I voted for one Republican

last year. He is Pat Butler Sheriff of Ohio County West Virginia. I've known him for 30 years he is a good man and very fair, talk to him all the time.

[Shagbark Hickory]

21. I dunno. Why would anyone making under a million $ a year vote republican?

[LynneSin]

22. The 3 'G's'

Guns, Gays and God

They want their guns
They want their God
But they don't want the Gays

[toddaa]

24. Because the President is a SOSHOLIST

The myth that people only use 10% of the brain becomes a fact, once they enter a voting booth.

[Greybnk48]

25. That is the question of the day.

I just met a retired WI teacher at my hair salon who is against what Walker is doing. But when I told her that the police had joined the side of the protesters and regretted backing Walker, and that some said they wouldn't vote Repug again, she responded "Oh, no!" WTF??? I just don't get it.

On the other hand, anecdotally, I have not met ANY young teachers here in WI, and I know quite a few through friends, neighbors and family, that will vote Repug any time soon--believe me. They feel gut-shot.

[oldlady]

26. I think Wisconsin Republicans ARE waking up

here's why I think that:
1. Amy Goodman, when reporting from the state capitol, referenced a group of prison workers who voted for Walker -- they'd voted for Walker, were protesting, said they'd never again trust a Republican
2. At least a dozen "reformed Republican" signs amid the protestors
3. Among my co-workers and family I can count a dozen who changed their party allegiance this month (considering I mostly associate with liberals, this is a big number in a small sample)
4. In my experience on listserves that aren't related to politics, but which are definitely talking politics this month, it seems there are two or three brands of local Republicans -- the religious zealots (Madison's communities of faith are standing with the protestors), the materialists (who are so distracted by shiny new contraptions that they don't read and only listen to right-wing radio in their fancy cars, and those whose sense of "honor" made them view conservatives favorably. The zealots are dwindling as they tire of one another (nothing more toxic than joining a group as harshly critical of others as fundamentalists-- since everyone is someone's "other"). The materialists can't buy as many toys, so might get bored enough to read a book. The wanna-be-honorables now see where the truly decent and courageous are standing and are already downtown.

So, I'd say YES public sector workers who voted Republican are figuring it out and if November's election took place in March, Feingold would return to Washington and Walker would be unemployed under a Barrett governorship.

[Ian David]

27. If you can have people like GOProud, there will always be GOP public employees. n/t

[bluestate10]

29. Hear, Hear. From the view of a straight person, a gay being in GOPproud is like me

slamming a hammer into my skull.

[EC]

28. With Walker and Johnson

they refused to say what they would do or plans for the budget. Feingold asked over and over what the plans were and the same with Barrett. The fools that voted for them voted out of anger and social issues (both are real fundies)- they didn't care to know how they would trim the budget or create jobs. They just believed they would. I heard one guy at the union hall yesterday admit to voting for Walker, he said that he "just didn't believe he would bust the unions" he was more interested in guns.

[highplainsdem]

30. Nonstop brainwashing by the right, including use of social-issue buttons

to try to distract voters from key economic issues.

This has been going on for decades. There really is a vast rightwing conspiracy, though Hillary Clinton was mocked for bringing it up.

The country hasn't so much "moved" to the right as been manipulated to the right by wealthy rightwingers determined to roll back all the social advances of the 20th century, advances that limited their power.

[The Backlash Cometh]

31. Because some of them are shills for the government body.

In most small town areas the local government is already controlled by private stalwarts that live in the community. Those coveted public jobs are given to cronies which can be counted on to pass on information, or destroy information, or just pretend they're not seeing any of these things being done. The public worker has to be a team player, but not to uphold the integrity of the organization, but to protect the secret fact that it sometimes colludes and conspires against members of its own community.

So, expect to find a few Republicans in their midst. They're not civil servants. They're henchmen.

[ZombieHorde]

32. Guns, abortion, and religion. nt

[ldf]

35. because they are

racist
sexist
homophobic...

but above all, because they are christian (which in many cases encompasses all the above). and you KNOW the gop is god's preferred political party.

[ismnotwasm]

36. Otherism

You know those who think in terms of 'them', they, the ones 'don't work' 'live off welfare' are 'milking the system' or vague terms like 'corrupt' or even 'illegals' and what is sometimes but not always, shall we say a bit underground, the all purpose category of 'non-white'.

Otherism leads to certain very popular statements that begin in things like "Why should my tax dollars pay for (insert whatever heterosexist, racist, classist or just all purpose ignorant statement about another human being or group of human beings that fits here) Once you've managed to what amounts to dehumanizing someone or someones, then voting repuke makes sense, since you are human the 'others' are not, and that's what being a republican is all about.


IMO.