The Rove-Bush efforts to turn low-income voters, especially Hispanics, into Republicans through home ownership was doomed from the start. In fact, not only did it fail, it failed spectacularly, causing the credit crunch and the housing bubble. I don't think it's home ownership per se that makes people tend toward the GOP, it's the personal qualities of diligence and self-discipline needed to amass a 20% down payment and then pay the mortgage every month that count. Such people are naturally going to vote for the party that allows them to keep what they've worked for. But subsidizing people who are naturally irresponsible isn't going to change their nature. We see that when a poor person wins a big lottery prize, blows through it, and usually ends up as poor as when he or she started out. The housing bubble wasn't all the fault of Bush and Rove - they had plenty of help from the Democrats - but the voters blame the Republicans, and the results are still being felt.