Left Turn on Bird Street

Move over ‘Reagan Democrats,’ here comes ‘Kerry Republicans’

By Dan Gougherty

As co-host of Left Turn on Bird Street, I have had the good fortune to discuss my political believes in the hope that I might influence someone in the listening area of KRBS. While our regular liberally slanted audience has been supportive, I began to feel as though I was preaching to the choir.

This week though I got an indication that one of our arguments on why Bush must go struck a chord with the last person I would have picked to find common ground with.

Lee, whose program follows ours, host a country music show featuring classic Country Western songs sung by everyone from Patsy Cline to local karaoke performers. Based on several factors, I had correctly determined Lee to be politically conservative. I guess you might say Lee could be a NASCAR Grandpa.

Over the last several months I felt as though Lee had non-verbally displayed his disapproval of our political views. Rarely would he say anything other than when necessary.

Then something strange happened. After our last show, Lee said that he wanted to talk with Tom and me about something. We gave each other the look like, “What is he is going to say.”

Much to our surprise, Lee said that he has been listening to us for sometime and that while he disagreed with us on most every issue, he did agreed that “Bush must go.” When we asked Lee what lead him to this, he pointedly said that Bush in undermining the constitution by holding American citizens without charges and this was a violation of our civil liberties.

Lee proudly told us that in his lifetime he had voted for every Republican Presidential candidate up to and including George W. Bush. A self proclaimed Goldwater Republican, Lee said it was too scary to think of what will happen to our civil liberties if Bush is given four more years. For that reason, and that reason alone, Lee said he was going to vote for John Kerry.

Although we did not get to speak more on the topic because Lee had records to spin, I was left wondering what, if any, was mentioned in any of our shows that might have prompted him to let us know of his change of heart.

Was it our reminders about American citizens being held for years without charges or my not-so-subtle jokes about Attorney General John Ashcroft coming to seize the station and hauling us away to parts unknown?

While I plan to have an extended talk with Lee on this topic, it sparked an idea. If I was able to help influence even one conservative voter to switch his vote based on this one issue, maybe we should come up with a term to describe true conservatives who are concerned with our civil liberties.

A true conservative does after all share common ground with true liberals in that both are mindful of constitutional rights and their desire to protect them.

Much like Reagan tapped into the economic angst of union members and the middle class in 1980 and won the so-called “Reagan Democrats,” Kerry has a unique opportunity to tap the growing fairness angst common to conservatives and liberals. While I am not suggesting Kerry move to the right on several key issues, in fact he should move more to the left, there are opportunities to find common ground with the all important swing votes.

From this point forward, the swing voters should claimed and identified as “Kerry Republicans.”

To accomplish this, Kerry could proclaim “I will protect every American citizen’s right to full access to all of their constitution rights.” For the tax debate, Kerry could say he supports a “fair tax” system that favors the “the hard working individuals and families that bare the brunt of the excessive corporate tax breaks.” You get the idea.

The point is Lee demonstrated that Kerry can win this election not by going to the center or mimicking some of Bush’s positions, but rather to find a few key issues that will appeal to the fair mindedness and common concerns of all Americans.

With Bush’s record on human rights here and abroad, as Dick Cheney might say, this is ought to be a “slam dunk” for Kerry.