BACK TO THEIR ROOTS

According to an AP-Ipsos poll, three out of five "Southern women" plan to vote Democrat in November, primarily as a reflection of dissatisfaction over Administration/GOP policy, notably the ongoing War in Iraq. As expressed by Barbara Knight, 66, "a self-described Republican since birth and the mother of three":

I think history will show him to be the worst president since Ulysses S. Grant. He's been an embarrassment. I'm going to go for the moderate, and these days that tends to be Democrats.

Lest anyone doubt her Dixie bona fides, note the choice of Grant (as opposed to the usual Yankee examples, Buchanon or Pierce or Hoover) as worst President ever. I'm guessing that Reconstruction, and not the famous series of scandals, places him in that spot.

Sandy Rubin, a high school teacher in Macon, GA, says she voted for Bush in 2004, but plans to vote Democrat this year. She says "the GOP's focus on issues that appeal to social conservatives, such as gay marriage and abortion, have turned her off." She added:

I care about job security and education. The things I hear the Republicans emphasizing in their campaigns are not things that affect me or my family.

But, before you imagine a map of the South painted blue, rather than red (or adorned in Stars & Bars), please read what substitute teacher Clydeen Tomanio told reporters "at a watermelon festival in Chickamauga, in the mountains of northwest Georgia," as she explained why she "remains committed to the party she's called home for 43 years":

There are some people, and I'm one of them, that believe George Bush was placed where he is by the Lord. I don't care how he governs, I will support him. I'm a Republican through and through.

Oh well.