Hats off to Bush as he calls on Amish country

Times
From Tim Reid in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

HIS horse and buggy safely tethered, straw hat perched on his head and plain dark suit brushed as neatly as his long beard, Dan Stoltz, an Amish builder, watched in quiet awe yesterday as his hero, George W. Bush, emerged from Air Force One to greet the roars of the crowd.
“We’re voting for Bush. We like his values,” Mr Stoltz declared. And as Mr Bush looked down to see not just baseball caps, but clusters of white bonnets, boaters and trademark beards, he knew beyond doubt that this year the Amish have hitched their buggies to his re-election bid and are coming out to vote.

Mr Bush landed in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, among its rolling fields and unmechanised farms, aware that if just a few thousand vote for him here and in the neighbouring battleground state of Ohio, this deeply conservative community that shuns modern life might just deliver him another four years in the White House.

Although pacifists, the 52,000 Amish in Pennsylvania, and 55,000 in Ohio, are natural Republicans, even more obsessed by cultural issues of abortion and gay marriage than matters of war and peace.

“An Amish vote is a Republican vote. And if we don’t vote, we pray Republican,” said Chet Beiler, a former Amish and now Republican activist who has been dropping off registration forms in Lancaster County’s Amish farms and shops. Already 2,000 have signed up and promised to ride their buggies to the polling booths on Tuesday.

More:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1332472,00.html

:eyes:

I live in Amish country, and I know for a fact that they live outside of government regulation, they don't pay taxes or join the militay, so i'm assuming that they don't vote. I have seen known an Amish person to vote. WTF?

that i have never known an amish person to vote, i can't type.

Why not? Are they considered a religeous organization? I need another lifetime to catch up on what I don't know. x(

Because they are considered by the government a religious organization, and they try to distance themselves as much as possible from modern society. They avoid you when you meet them in farmer's markets etc... Although when you do get to know them, they are friendly but not overly welcoming, like they wouldn't want you in thier house etc..

They can't have it both ways. Either they ARE part of the country, or they're not.

Of course.. the can "pray republican" all they want.

I have zero respect for these people, if they are so anti-abortion, and yet seemed to have forgotten their pacifist roots. I guess those killed in war are LESS important than a fertilized egg.

Kicking and screaming if necessary

None at the above link.

...Which leaves them captive to the corporate media. Or in their case (since they don't watch TV either) second-hand corporate media.

Ironically enough, the Amish are as well informed as Bush himself.

My (albeit limited) interaction with the Amish is that they barely pay attention to what is happening in the next town over. I mean, does any Amish person subscribe to the national edition of The New York Times?

Typically, the Amish don't vote unless there is a local issue at stake that directly affects them. It will be interesting to see if they actually go to the polls. I imagine most of them aren't even registered.

the pugs will bring the ballots to them......just like all of the dementia patients in the nursing homes....

I for one am shaking in my shoes...lol

Also, since they foreswear the use of modern technology, don't they have to use the older, less reliable version of touch screen voting?

folks are their biggest supporters.

Amish are pacifists. They live on the outskirts of our society.

But if they get involved in determining the "English" government, then they have to be honest with themselves and do military service just as the "english" do.

My sister is quite friendly with several Amish families in Southern Indiana. So i've actually met Amish in a casual setting.

I believe there's no reason a christian liberal effort at outreach wouldn't reach these people. An argument based on Jesus' teachings would make sense to them. They have a commincation network, and use telephones, the internet, etc. They just go across the street & use other people's stuff, even paying for an extra phone line, as it can't be in their house.