For Republicans nervous about an electoral catastrophe next month, Lesley Jones could be a harbinger of doom.
She’s 41 years old, has a University of Georgia bachelor’s degree, and considers herself a solid Republican. Yet she walked into the Chastain Recreation Center gym in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood this week and cast her presidential ballot for Democrat Hillary Clinton rather than Republican Donald Trump.
“There’s been nothing. He’s presented me with nothing. And what he has presented me has been so offensive,” Jones said, adding that she actually considered supporting Trump back when he first secured the nomination. But she said the more she heard from him, the more disgusted she became. His recorded boast of being able to sexually assault women because of his celebrity was the last straw. “I’m embarrassed to be a Republican and have this nominee.”
It would be one thing if Jones, who supported former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Republican primaries, were an anomaly. Unfortunately for Georgia Republicans, she instead represents a key reason why a state won handily by 2012 GOP Mitt Romney is, according to polls, statistically tied just four years later.
Chastain Park is surrounded by streets dotted with mini-mansions on giant lots. The basketball gym is a part of a complex that includes an equestrian center, and the parking lot sports Lexuses, Audis, Mercedeses ― even a bright blue Maserati. Romney won this particular precinct 70 percent to 28 percent in 2012.
Yet on a recent day of early voting there, sentiments like Jones’ were hardly unusual.
Another Republican woman who voted for Clinton started laughing when asked what was the matter with Trump. “I’d say just about everything,” she said, asking that her name not be used to avoid arguments with friends who still support him.
Iris Regas, 62, called Trump “a wild man” who couldn’t be trusted with any real responsibility. She voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson.
While polls bear out that Trump’s support has plummeted among college-educated Republican women, he was having trouble with some of Chastain Park’s Republican men, as well.
Raymond Hill, a 69-year-old business professor at Emory University, said he voted for Romney in 2012, but went for Johnson this time. “Do I have to explain it to you?” he laughed when asked why.
“He’s a misogynist. He’s a narcissist. And he’s not a Republican,” said Republican retiree Jack Hullings, 64, now an official Clinton voter. “I’m not sure I want his hand to be the one hovering over the red button.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...ia-women_us_580aada3e4b02444efa39cbe?section=
She’s 41 years old, has a University of Georgia bachelor’s degree, and considers herself a solid Republican. Yet she walked into the Chastain Recreation Center gym in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood this week and cast her presidential ballot for Democrat Hillary Clinton rather than Republican Donald Trump.
“There’s been nothing. He’s presented me with nothing. And what he has presented me has been so offensive,” Jones said, adding that she actually considered supporting Trump back when he first secured the nomination. But she said the more she heard from him, the more disgusted she became. His recorded boast of being able to sexually assault women because of his celebrity was the last straw. “I’m embarrassed to be a Republican and have this nominee.”
It would be one thing if Jones, who supported former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Republican primaries, were an anomaly. Unfortunately for Georgia Republicans, she instead represents a key reason why a state won handily by 2012 GOP Mitt Romney is, according to polls, statistically tied just four years later.
Chastain Park is surrounded by streets dotted with mini-mansions on giant lots. The basketball gym is a part of a complex that includes an equestrian center, and the parking lot sports Lexuses, Audis, Mercedeses ― even a bright blue Maserati. Romney won this particular precinct 70 percent to 28 percent in 2012.
Yet on a recent day of early voting there, sentiments like Jones’ were hardly unusual.
Another Republican woman who voted for Clinton started laughing when asked what was the matter with Trump. “I’d say just about everything,” she said, asking that her name not be used to avoid arguments with friends who still support him.
Iris Regas, 62, called Trump “a wild man” who couldn’t be trusted with any real responsibility. She voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson.
While polls bear out that Trump’s support has plummeted among college-educated Republican women, he was having trouble with some of Chastain Park’s Republican men, as well.
Raymond Hill, a 69-year-old business professor at Emory University, said he voted for Romney in 2012, but went for Johnson this time. “Do I have to explain it to you?” he laughed when asked why.
“He’s a misogynist. He’s a narcissist. And he’s not a Republican,” said Republican retiree Jack Hullings, 64, now an official Clinton voter. “I’m not sure I want his hand to be the one hovering over the red button.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...ia-women_us_580aada3e4b02444efa39cbe?section=
