Security Moms to Bush: We're Just Not that Into You Anymore

In a bad sign for Republican chances in 2006, it looks like the hot and heavy affair between George Bush and America's "security moms" is flaming out. Big time.

In 2002, terror-struck married women with children supported Republicans over Democrats by a 17-point margin (53 percent to 36 percent). In 2004, 56% of them backed Bush -- validating the president's arduous pursuit of MILFs (Mothers I'd Like to Frighten).

But now, fed up with Bush's broken promises on Iraq, these security moms are telling pollsters they are more inclined to vote Democratic than at any time since the 9/11 attacks. According to a Pew Research Center study, they currently favor Congressional Dems by a 12-point margin (50 percent to 38 percent).

The bloom is also off the presidential rose with Southern women, a key Bush constituency in 2004 when 54 percent of them swooned for him. Now, 60 percent of them say they are planning to vote for a Democrat in November. This deep-in-the-heart-of-Dixie dissatisfaction is being fueled by disenchantment with Iraq. Only 32 percent of female voters in the south approve of Bush's handling of the war.

It's clear that women voters, who are more likely than men to see Iraq as the defining issue of the midterm election, are no longer getting that safe and cozy feeling from the president. And Bush's 9/11 Oval Office speech isn't likely to change that. It's hard to feel comforted by someone so delusional.

The killer pick up lines that once worked so well are now landing with a thud. And yet Bush keeps trotting them out.

"The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad," he said. Does he really think we're drunk enough on fear that we'll still fall for a line that's been so thoroughly exposed as a lie that, even if we want to believe it, we can no longer take the leap of faith?

The stink of a doomed relationship hangs over the president's current PR offensive. How desperate do you have to be to use a national day of mourning to try to woo your ex, whispering sweet, ominous nothings -- terrorists are "determined to bring death and destruction to our homes" -- in her ear?

I know a lot of women -- myself included -- who have been taken in by a man with a confident swagger. But, sooner or later, the curtain is pulled back, revealing a guy trying too hard to convince you of something that just doesn't add up. And trust me, once that happens, if you know what's good for you, you never go back. Even if you are a Woman Who Loves Too Much. Or a Woman Who Gets Frightened Too Often.

The more Bush insists on insisting that Iraq is the cornerstone of the war on terror, the more pathetic he seems. And there are few things that are more of a turn-off for a woman than the combination of pathetic and delusional.