Even in a swing state, views are hardened
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Spigel may oppose Bush, but she doesn't feel the same about all Republicans. Her local state representative, she says, is a Republican and was "extremely helpful" with an insurance problem. "I'd definitely vote for her," she says. At the national level, she points to John McCain as a Republican she "would vote for."
Even more striking, she recently made a pilgrimage to Washington to view Ronald Reagan's casket - catching the 11:30 p.m. train out of 30th Street Station, and waiting for more than seven hours in a line "that made Disney look like nothing," to go through the Capitol Rotunda and pay her respects.
"Whether or not I agreed with all his policies, he was president of the United States," she says. "It was an honor to pay respect to him."
Typically, the most persuadable group of voters in these types of suburbs are women. They are the so-called "soccer moms," later dubbed "security moms," who tend to be socially moderate but fiscally conservative, who worry about terrorism but also about education. Most are registered Republicans, but many also voted for Clinton and Gore.
Yet this time around, almost no one seems inclined to cross party lines. Watching her four kids navigate the "starship" ride at a carnival at the Wissahickon High School near Ambler, Republican Karen Williams describes her vote as "more anti-Kerry than pro-Bush." Kerry "waffles a lot," she says. But while Bush has "done some good," she also thinks "the country's being distracted a lot by Iraq."
Initially she favored the war - "the intent was good," she says. But lately she's concluded, "it just can't be implemented. It's turning into a mini-Vietnam. You can't pull out, and there's never a good time to leave."
Ms. Williams grew up in this area and came back to raise her own family here. "It's a very solid place," says the stay-at-home mom. Her husband works for a big pharmaceutical company - "hence, Republican," she jokes. She's always voted with the GOP, and says she will stick with the president this fall.
Standing with Williams, Diane Jeckovich says she too will vote for Bush because "he's safer for business," but adds: "not that I agree with everything that's happened." She supports the war in Iraq, but thinks "there were probably a lot of mistakes made," and "it's a shame it's dragged on this long."
Like Williams, Ms. Jeckovich typically votes Republican, but notes that she supports abortion rights and stem-cell research. In 1996, she voted for Clinton over Bob Dole. But she can't envision crossing party lines this time: "I think Kerry's scary," she says.
And for every moderate voter like Jeckovich, there are more passionate ones, like Joe and Mary Mallon, attending the carnival with their kids.
Mr. Mallon, a physician, was once a registered Democrat - but says he's always voted Republican and has become more conservative since getting married. He agrees with Bush on "most things," though he notes, "some valid questions have been raised" about Iraq. He sees a stark division between the two parties over social issues. "Clinton was probably more fiscally responsible than Bush," he says. But "the Lewinsky thing really turned my stomach."
His wife is a self-proclaimed straight-ticket Republican, who just purchased a T-shirt off a website that reads: "Michael Moore is fat." Raised in an Italian family of Republicans in South Philadelphia, she's always voted with the GOP - but grew much more conservative in recent years, largely over the issue of abortion. She lost a child, she explains, and after that grew more active in the Catholic Church - and more focused on "what matters" in life.
A stay-at-home mom, Ms. Mallon listens to Sean Hannity on the radio and says she finds herself "yelling and screaming" about the politics of her more liberal neighbors. "We all sort of coexist," Mr. Mallon says. "This is a very volatile area."
