Rocked-Ribbed Republicans
You don’t hear the term “rock-ribbed Republican” as much as you used to. Maybe it’s because the phrase is associated more with old-fashioned country club Republicans than it is with radical right-wingers, neo-conservatives and the like. In any case, I think the media has underplayed the potential for defection of significant numbers of old-line Republicans to the Democrats. This conclusion, I acknowledge, is based largely on anecdotal evidence. Case in point: my mother has an old friend who comes from a wealthy, pillar-of-the-business community, rock-ribbed Republican family in North Carolina. The friend has always been a Republican, but the other day she registered as a Democrat. She is a conservative in the traditional sense of the word and strongly disapproves of Bush’s radicalism.
I know the polls show something like 90% loyalty to Bush among Republicans. But I’m sure there are a lot of people out there like my mother’s friend, or if you like, Republican-turned-Independent Sen. Jim Jeffords.