Republicans are abandoning ship left and right. We've brought you several anguished editorials written by life-long Republicans who feel that George Bush has betrayed them and their principles.
Here's an AP story about how moderate Republicans in Colorado are planning to vote for John Kerry rather than endure four more years of George Bush's radical governance.
**********
"Moderate Colorado Republicans breaking ranks"
By Judith Kohler
The Associated Press
10/21/2004, 3:39 p.m. PT
DENVER (AP) -- A rebellion of sorts is under way among some of Colorado's moderate Republicans, led by a retired tax lawyer who worked in the Nixon White House and says she is fed up with the direction of her party.
Mary Lou Halliburton, 66, is a lifelong Republican and a relative of Earl Halliburton, who founded the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney and now criticized for a $7.5 billion no-bid contract to work in Iraq.
Halliburton doesn't think her late cousin would approve of the circumstances surrounding the contract. And she doesn't like how President Bush has handled the Iraq war, so she is supporting Democrat John Kerry.
More than anything, Halliburton doesn't like the direction of the GOP. She said the party's rejection of fiscal conservatism, respect for differences and other long-held principles could help explain why Bush hasn't sewn up Colorado after winning here easily four years ago.
"Our issues and concerns are everything from foreign policy to deficit spending to choice to stem cell research to the Iraq war -- and on and on," Halliburton wrote in an e-mail to more than 200 people who contacted her after a newspaper column about disaffected Republicans.
The interest encouraged Halliburton and like-minded party members, including former state Sens. Dottie Wham and Al Meiklejohn, to form "Republicans Who Want Their Party Back," whose aim is to return the party "to the mainstream of American politics."
The Colorado Republicans aren't alone. Party members in Oregon, including relatives of former GOP Gov. Vic Atiyeh, have announced their support for Kerry. The former governor, however, supports Bush.
Ty Pettit, president and chief executive of a medical device company in Portland, Ore., recently switched to the Democratic Party after 30 years as a Republican. His complaints include the deficit, Iraq and the president's stances against abortion and stem-cell research.
"The party of George Bush needs to be challenged," Pettit said.
An Internet site run by Republicans for Kerry echoes his concerns, claiming Bush "has acted so contrary to our values."
They join John Eisenhower, son of Republican President Eisenhower, who announced in September that he backs Kerry and is upset with Bush and the GOP over the budget deficits, the war and social policies. Former Minnesota Gov. Elmer Anderson supports Kerry for the same reasons.
"I think it's the sign of the times, with Bush going as far as he has, that there are more of us," Halliburton said.
The question, however, is how deep the opposition really is.
Nancy Martorano, a political science professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio, said there is a certain amount of crossover between both parties in every election. She doesn't think the numbers this year add up to a revolution in the ranks.
"If anything, we're actually seeing less crossover in 2000 and 2004," Martorano said.
She acknowledged some Republicans are unhappy with the deficits, Iraq and "the impact that the hard-core Christian right has on Bush."
But she said she believes most would prefer Bush's policies to Kerry's.
Colorado GOP chairman Ted Halaby said some of the high-profile defections have caught a lot of attention. "I don't like to lose any Republican votes," he said.
But Halaby predicted more Democrats will vote for Bush than Republicans will vote for Kerry because of national security concerns. He expects Bush's modest lead in Colorado polls to hold or grow.
"I subscribe to the big-tent philosophy of Ronald Reagan. I think there's plenty of room for moderates," Halaby said.
Former Colorado Secretary of State and U.S. Senate nominee Mary Estill Buchanan is among the moderate Republicans who feel there is no room for them. Buchanan said she will likely vote for Kerry.
"We all feel we've compromised too much," Buchanan said. She said the breaking point for her was the prospect of Bush appointing new justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"The tone for the next 40 years, for another generation, can be set by just two appointees," she said
AI
