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By Arianna Huffington
In a bad sign for Republican chances in 2006, it looks like
the hot and heavy affair between George Bush and America's "security
moms" is flaming out. Big time.
In 2002, terror-struck married women with children supported
Republicans over Democrats by a 17-point margin (53 percent
to 36 percent). In 2004, 56 percent of them backed Bush—validating
the president's arduous pursuit of MILFs (Mothers I'd Like
to Frighten).
But now, fed up with Bush's broken promises on Iraq, these
security moms are telling pollsters they are more inclined
to vote Democratic than at any time since the 9/11 attacks.
According to a Pew Research Center study, they currently
favor Congressional Dems by a 12-point margin (50 percent
to 38 percent).
The bloom is also off the presidential rose with Southern
women, a key Bush constituency in 2004 when 54 percent of
them swooned for him. Now, 60 percent of them say they are
planning to vote for a Democrat in November. This deep-in-the-heart-of-Dixie
dissatisfaction is being fueled by disenchantment with Iraq.
Only 32 percent of female voters in the South approve of
Bush's handling of the war.
It's clear that women voters, who are more likely than men
to see Iraq as the defining issue of the midterm election,
are no longer getting that safe and cozy feeling from the
president. And Bush's 9/11 Oval Office speech isn't likely
to change that. It's hard to feel comforted by someone so
delusional.
The killer pick-up lines that once worked so well are now
landing with a thud. And yet Bush keeps trotting them out.
"The safety of America depends on the outcome of the
battle in the streets of Baghdad," he said. Does he
really think we're drunk enough on fear that we'll still
fall for a line that's been so thoroughly exposed as a lie
that, even if we want to believe it, we can no longer take
the leap of faith?
The stink of a doomed relationship hangs over the president's
current PR offensive. How desperate do you have to be to
use a national day of mourning to try to woo your ex, whispering
sweet, ominous nothings—terrorists are "determined
to bring death and destruction to our homes"—in
her ear?
I know a lot of women—myself included—who have
been taken in by a man with a confident swagger. But, sooner
or later, the curtain is pulled back, revealing a guy trying
too hard to convince you of something that just doesn't add
up. And trust me, once that happens, if you know what's good
for you, you never go back. Even if you are a Woman Who Loves
Too Much. Or a Woman Who Gets Frightened Too Often.
The more Bush insists on insisting that Iraq is the cornerstone
of the war on terror, the more pathetic he seems. And there
are few things that are more of a turn-off for a woman than
the combination of pathetic and delusional.
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