War Widow Bridget
| 🕊️ | |
| Era | The Fifties |
|---|---|
| Age | 42-49 |
| Home | Newark, NJ |
| Demographic | ethnic Catholic, anti-communist, widow |
| Lean | cold_war_hawk |
| Race | white |
Bridget is an Italian-American widow in her forties in Newark, who has raised her children alone since her husband was killed in the Second World War. She is a Catholic and an anti-Communist, because for her the Cold War is a matter of personal loss.
Who they stand for
About 405,000 Americans died in the Second World War, and many of the widows they left behind lived in the ethnic Catholic neighbourhoods of the industrial Northeast. In these neighbourhoods, the parish, the Veterans of Foreign Wars auxiliary and a part-time wage filled the gap that the widow's pension did not cover. Their anti-Communism came from two sources. One was the Catholic Church, which under Pope Pius XII and Cardinal Spellman treated the Cold War as a religious war. The other was their family ties to Italy, where Italian-Americans had written home in large numbers in 1948 to help swing the Italian election against the Communist Party. The Communist takeover of China, the Alger Hiss case, the conviction of the Rosenbergs and the Korean War all confirmed what these widows already believed, and Gallup polls found Catholics supporting Senator McCarthy above the national average through 1954. Most of them still voted Democratic on the basis of wages and rent, which made them the voters that the 1952 Republican campaign on Korea, Communism and corruption was designed to win over. Parish Maureen is a Democrat first who happens to like McCarthy. Bridget supports McCarthy first and is a Democrat second.
Playing to them
Bridget responds to strength that a president actually shows, not strength that he only talks about. A growing defence budget, an ally defended, a Soviet move answered, and a spy brought to trial all win her support. She will not forgive a concession to Moscow, a withdrawal that looks like a retreat, a cut to the armed forces, or a president who treats the hunt for Communists as a joke. To her, mockery of Senator McCarthy feels like mockery of her dead husband and of men like him. She is a Democrat on the issues of rent and wages, and she would welcome a public housing programme, although she has never voted on that issue alone. A president who wins Bridget's support with a hard line abroad and loyalty programmes at home loses the support of Faculty Eleanor and Garment Row Saul. If that hard line specifically defends Senator McCarthy himself, it also loses the support of Banker Prescott and Junior Exec Chip, who share the anti-Communist goal but despise McCarthy personally. Unlike Minute Women Vivian, Bridget costs a president nothing on domestic policy, so a president can keep her support while also spending money to satisfy Steel City Stan.
Where they live
The five states where War Widow Bridget makes up the largest share of the electorate in the fifties:
- West Virginia
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Wisconsin
- Pennsylvania