The Dixie Chick vote

Washington Monthly, Oct, 2004 by Charles Peters

My son Christian teaches social studies in a public high school in San Bernardino, Calif. The school's population is divided into thirds of black, white, and Hispanic, and tends toward the lower half of the economic scale. This summer, he polled his world history class for political preferences after Kerry's convention speech.

The response: "White males and third-generation Hispanic males were uniformly Republican. Blacks and first- and second-generation Hispanics were uniformly Democratic. The only swing group is white girls. Half lean Republican and half Democratic, and several keep changing their minds."

Chris's personal observation is that this kind of split among females extends up to the age of 35. Among the older, 25-35, California members of this group with whom he is acquainted, he sees a ray of hope. Their favorite musical group is the Dixie Chicks, whose leader said George W. Bush made her "ashamed to be from Texas."

More significantly for Kerry, Chris believes, is what he can learn from the themes of the group's songs: "the desire for decent jobs, the desire to care for their kids adequately, and the wish that men would believe in them." Chris thinks Kerry can appeal to them by offering "down-to-earth, practical solutions to day-to-day problems."