August 31, 2004
Identifying The Unlikelies
Posted by The Editors | 03:39 PM
Two groups outside the conventional GOP mainstream gathered across the hall from one another at the Waldorf-Astoria on Tuesday: a group of Jewish constituents for a Jewish outreach briefing and Students for Bush, the campaign's outreach effort toward college-aged Republicans. So who exactly are the people who hang to the right of their respective demographics?
The Jewish contingent was a microcosm of the hawkish end of the pro-Israel Jewish community -- a handful of Hassidic Jews with traditional black hats and sidecurls, neo-Orthodox men wearing yarmulkes, men and women in business suits and casual clothes.
The Students for Bush contingent was considerably less diverse. Aside from one young woman wearing a Bush-Cheney '04 sticker on the seat of her pants, they looked like only the best-behaved Generation Y-ers. Most were white, well-heeled and more attractive than 100 students pulled at random. The most unusual people in the room were the two professional wrestlers, The Big Show and Shawn Michaels, who addressed the group.
"I know the kind of flak you guys get from your friends," Michaels said. "[I] didn't have the integrity and courage you do when I was your age -- not against the kind of peer pressure you face."
Peer pressure from the rest of the demographic was a topic at the Jewish forum, too. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., told the group flat-out, "Many of you feel abandoned by your friends, by the Democrats.... You are welcome and we want you in this party." -- From Gwen Glazer, NationalJournal.com
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