Dear John GOP,
We’ve been together a really long time, haven’t we?
It was a beautiful relationship for sure.
Hey, remember the time that Clinton was running and I loathed him and couldn’t believe my fellow teenagers were falling for his saxaphone playing on late night television? How mad I was that I would be 18 on November 7th which was FOUR FLIPPING DAYS after the elections and I was so pissed off they wouldn’t let me vote for Bush that I practically picketed the registration office?
Man…those were the days, weren’t they?
I’ve been raised with you. I remember watching the Regan/Carter debates and I knew who my man was even though I was only, what…6?
My parents totally approved of you.
Well, except for that weird period where they cheated on the elephant and ran around with the donkey during part of the Clinton administration.
It was weird.
My mother’s insistence that ‘THAT WOMAN chased and stalked our President!” (when, hi…she was 21 and hello…due to that little thing called The Secret Service, nobody stalks the President of the United States unless HE WANTS TO BE STALKED) really, really confused me. Needless to say, I was highly relieved when they came to their senses and voted for Dubya in 2000.
Lately, you and I just haven’t been getting along. The fights, the bickering, the distance.
I really think we’ve grown into two different people.
And I have come to a decision:
I AM LEAVING YOU AND OFFICIALLY REGISTERING AS A DEMOCRAT.
I’ve been thinking really hard about us for a long time. I have gotten more and more vocal about ideas and thoughts and stands that I have stayed quiet about for a long time.
In the hundreds of times I have told my story about being invited to visit The White House (November 6th! WOOT!), I keep uttering the phrase “I’m a moderate Republican”. And I kept feeling more and more and more…wrong.
It used to be very true.
I just don’t think it is any longer.
Between the passing of Proposition 8 in California banning gay marriage (which I more strongly disagree with then I can find adequate words for) and health care, I have really had the foundations of my political ideals shaken and questioned.
In talking about my outrage with both of these issues (and others) I came to realize how important this is to me and how different my thinking is then many of the people around me. I am an extremely non-confrontational person but I have felt passionately enough about things lately to go to the mat with my nearest and dearest loved ones. I’ve gotten into heated, intense arguments with people I never seriously argue with.
I find myself shaking my head more at the right and nodding it more at the left.
It used to be the exact opposite.
During a conference call through BlogHer today with a Republican Congresswoman, though she was lovely, I found myself yelling at the phone in frustration. Hey, some people yell at their TV screens watching sports, I yell at my phone during health care reform conference calls.
(We won’t go into the rambling and confused question I asked her regarding high-risk insurance pools as the rambling and confused part came about because I WALKED INTO THE CORNER OF MY BEDROOM DOOR right before being called on and was seeing stars and worried that people heard me yelling curse words before my question. Go, me.)
When I hung up the phone it was like the last little piece of the puzzle was in place and I just absolutely, 100% KNEW.
I am worried, I will confess. I’m registering as a Democrat AND I’VE NEVER EVEN VOTED FOR ONE.
This is a HUGE change for me. It’s almost like leaving a religion where I’m from. But I know it’s the right choice for me right now. When I end something it’s usually pretty final…at least about the way I feel. I may be able to work it out but chances are high I will never feel the same about it again. There has been like, one exception to this in all my life, BUT…even that isn’t immune and it’s proving me to be pretty much the same lately. So, I don’t think my feelings about you will ever go back to what they once were.
Lots in my life is changing. I’ve outgrown things and I’ve seen others without the rose colored glasses I am prone to wearing. I owe it to myself to do this to see if I feel more comfortable. And frankly, I am doing your party NO favors by staying in it feeling the way that I do.
I don’t even know if the Democrats would even WANT someone like me. I am pro-life (though that is a gray area and much too long for this post), I am ADAMANT about military funding, and I am really not sure if I love the earth enough for the left side of the aisle.
(Though I really think there is a Facebook quiz to help me find out. Imagine how pleased I was to find out that I am the rock band “Journey”!!! I could totally pass off looking like Steve Perry! WOOT!!!!)
This decision IS NOT ISSUE BASED. It’s because of the way I THINK.
After hundreds of hours of bickering, debating and arguing about the ins and outs of both parties I came to realize something: I have a completely, completely different ideology then the party I have been a part of since I was 18. And it’s too different to remain a Republican any longer.
So, I’m not.
I could be an independent but the Democratic party in Utah is so small I want them to have the numbers, frankly. And I kind of like being the rebel underdog. Beyond that, voting in the primaries is hugely important to me.
Before we say goodbye I want to assure you I don’t find either side “BAD”. I love WAY too many people to bits and pieces that I believe are true, humble, lovely, classy and good hearted to ever classify a whole party that way. You will find assholes on both sides, frankly.
So, thanks for all the memories, GOP.
It was fun while it lasted.
If you’re feeling all wounded and hurty over this, you can go cuddle with my husband.
He’s still there for you.
AND…he’s an excellent big spoon.
:)
Kisses n’ stuff,
Loralee
Filed under: 
It’s a sad paradox for sure. One party gives lip service to not tanking our economy and the other is more honest about its intentions. At the end of the day, the party that is out of power will fight harder to restrain what is going on in government. So, the Republicans are our best hope at the moment for controlling ridiculous spending. Also, Pres. Bush (and believe me when I say I was an intern for his administration and not enamored by any means with his spending) did not spend nearly as much. Basically the best way we hvae at the moment to not bankrupt the country is to “fight the power” and currently the power is the Democrats. To say the US dollar can’t handle the stress it is currently under, the private sector can’t handle the negative incentives this healthcare bill will give them, and banks like Goldman Sachs shouldn’t be forced to a certain size even though they did nothing wrong and warned for years about the problems in the system, is…well…exactly what I mean to say.
Other than that, I began following your blog off of the White House Council on Women and Girls website. I came across it while doing research for a thinktank in DC.
hug
My question is on your last line, did you mean you have lost a huge amount of respect for the private sector?
You’re correct in saying that Bush did not spend nearly as much, but he also racked up huge deficits at a time when the economy was growing at a substantial clip. Conventional economics go that when the economy is growing, the government should shrink, and when it contracts, the government should grow to fill the gap. Bush grew the government by fantastical amounts. Had spending been more restrained during those years, today’s deficits wouldn’t be near as large. But they were, and they are, so it’s a moot argument.
While I agree on the “fight the power” notion, it would be nice if the Republicans were offering a clear, coherent alternative to the Democrats, but they’re really not. The current Republican “fight the power” strategy is to be obstructionist, which is really not what the country needs at this point.
I also worked with an investment company (briefly, very briefly) and once you see how that works, you fully see how the little guy gets screwed. Consistently and constantly. Independent investors know nothing about “shorting” stocks, but the big guys who short stocks push down the prices and force the little guys to sell at a loss. That’s a very small example, but one of many. To say that GS did nothing wrong is disingenuous, and most firms operated exactly like that. They knew what they were doing and while they were making vast sums of money, it was fine. But their inevitable failure almost tanked the entire country – we cannot allow that to happen again, under any circumstances. If a company is big enough to tank the country, then it’s time to break the company up into smaller pieces. People and nation come before money, always.
Hmmm…I’m thinking and will reply Doug. Thank you
So I have been considering that myself as well. Cannot get over the fact that republicans are idiots over the health care situation….someone poke my eye out…ahhhh.
What’s funny is in Utah….the mormon republicans aren’t necessarily rich at all…there just ignorant.
Living far far away from Utah…does give one a breather….I can’t say I’m ready to join the dems yet. Sometimes I think maybe it’ just the mormon republicans that tick me off so much. Got a son who is special needs…very expensive. Utah mormons congressmen have shredded medicaid down to nothing. Out where I live now…they realize that disabled children’s famlies need help….need to not go bankrupt paying for there kiddo’s.
So although I haven’t jumped on the dems bandwagon quite yet…could head there any minute….and I’m more than proud to say I have voted for a dem before…many many times.
Welcome to the party. It’s a nice place. Try the punch.
I kinda feel like you wrote this for me. The problem is, I don’t really fit in with either group. So I’m glad that you found what’s right for you.
Good luck!
Loralee, wow. I know how huge this was for you.
Just, wow. I understand, because the Dems don’t completely represent me, either. But they come a whole lot closer than the GOP.
It’s a nice place to live, and I can look myself in the mirror. Also? The grass is pretty green and I don’t long for the other side, at all.
Welcome. I’ll even let you use my mower to cut that grass, should it become overgrown.
T.
Oh, and Happy Birthday!!
I can only imagine how difficult it must be in your situation (where you live, jon’s strong viewpoints, in-laws, etc.). Being true to yourself is the most important thing. I’m proud of you, not for joining my adopted party, but for being you.
I left the party of my youth years ago after I had my first child (and actually gave it some thought) and haven’t regretted it one bit! I’m disappointed by politics in general but at least my ideology is being respected. Welcome to the left, where the donkey poop is smaller than the elephant’s.
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