Solidly and confidently Red in Monroe County

As
the results of last week’s presidential election trickled in and Four More
Years began materializing, there was an overwhelming sense that many Democrats
were getting schooled.

It’s
one thing to not have your man win the election. It’s another thing entirely to
feel blindsided by the results. Sure, wartime incumbents never get booted from
office. But this was George W. Bush, the man who, to most on the left, seemed
to have more credibility as a party joke than a president.

Here
in New York, Kerry-voting Dems sprinkled their disappointment with a general
sense of bewilderment: Fool us twice?

But
the real question is: Who’s so out of touch? Are people in the Red so
disconnected from the worsening situation in Iraq, the struggling economy, and
Bush’s malapropisms that another four years makes sense? Or have the people in
the Blue spent so much time talking among themselves that they literally have
no idea — barring any scandals at the polls — how Bush could win
reelection?

The
fact is Reds and Blues don’t talk any more. In the days after the election, City Newspaper spoke with three of
Monroe County’s 158,856 Bush voters — three very different people. Beyond
their Bush allegiance, none fit into tidy categories.

Dave
Bogdan is a 54-year-old security guard who works nightshifts for Northeastern
Security. Originally from Buffalo, Bogdan has lived for the past 18 years in
one of Rochester’s blue-collar neighborhoods, near the intersection of Ames and
Campbell. He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, and he has a
son serving in the military.

Suzanne
Strauber, 41, grew up in Penfield and now lives with her husband and 7-year-old
daughter in Pittsford. She’s a stay-at-home mom who spent seven years as an
interior architect and space planner in New York City, where she met her
husband. Strauber’s “Bible-based, church-based” family attends Browncroft
Community Church, the same church Strauber went to as a child.

Elliott
Chun is a 21-year-old English junior at the University of Rochester from
Honolulu, Hawaii. A member of the College Republicans and the descendant of an
immigrant grandfather who was a small-business owner, Chun says his pro-Bush
views are frequently a lone voice in his liberal surroundings.

Following
are edited transcripts of the discussions with the three.