In order to understand how deeply ingrained Republican hatred for President Barack Obama truly is, you need only ask one question: What would the president have to do to win your support?<\/p>\n
It’s rhetorical. There is nothing the president could do, save become a Republican himself, to placate many angry Republican voters. But when asked to at least consider the idea of backing him, the answers people give can be revealing.<\/p>\n
“I wouldn’t go across the street if he paid me $500,” said Steve Voss, a resident of Henderson, Nevada, who watched former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney address several hundred supporters Friday evening. “I’d throw a rock at him. All right, maybe a water balloon.”<\/p>\n
Voss’ tone shifted seamlessly between playful and angry. He is not an ideologue. He’s worried about the deficit and the housing market, particularly in his home state. He acknowledges that Romney’s desire to see the foreclosure crisis play itself out isn’t exactly his cup of tea. He wants the banks to feel more pressure to restructure loans and he thinks Obama hasn’t done enough on that front.<\/p>\n
“Smaller banks are being pushed out of business,” he said. “You can’t favor big banks.”<\/p>\n
Voss believes that the country faces a potentially cataclysmic budget crisis, but there are some cuts he thinks go too far. A 22-year veteran, he doesn’t want military spending levels tweaked. He also wants his pension protected. Pressed a bit more about his animus toward the president, he concedes that what Obama inherited from President George W. Bush wasn’t all that pretty.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think [John] McCain could have done that much better,” he said. But that’s hardly an excuse for staying the course. “We need someone to blow things up.”<\/p>\n
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