My Political History

I have voted straight Republican from the age of 18. I voted in every election and every primary. I even dutifully held my nose voted for the “lesser of two evils”/party pick in the November elections. Now for some time-compressed internal dialogue:

1988: “Cool! George Bush won! He’s doing some things that don’t quite make sense but I’m only twenty. It’s just politics.”

1992: “Crap! Clinton won. He’s going to destroy the country.”

1996: “Double crap! I can’t believe how stupid the American people are to vote this obviously sleezy guy back into office. But what can you expect when your competition is Dole. But hey, at least now the Republicans have both sides of congress so at least they can stop any more damage… wait… what’s going on? Why aren’t they changing anything? Why are they caving?”

2000: “Well, looks like Bush Jr. won. His dad was real wishy washy but I have hope for this guy. All the Christian radio programs say that he’s a true believer. Plus we still have both sides of Congress. TIME TO FIX THIS MESS! Reduce the budget, shrink government and finally we’ll get Roe V. Wade overturned! Wait… what’s going on? Not only are they NOT doing what they promised to do but they’re actually doing the opposite! Sure, they’re not as bad as those horrible Democrats but they’re still moving in the same direction.”

2004: “Bush won again. I’m supposed to be happy but both sides stunk, like they were almost the same. It’s like I really didn’t have an option. The Republicans talk a good game when campaigning but once they’re in office most of them are just Democrat-lite.”

2008: “Well, this is it. My children will live in a very different country. I thought Hilary was bad but this guy who came out of nowhere, Obama, has scared the pants off me from day one. The Clintons would sell the country down the river as long as it made them money but this guy will sell us down the river on principle! That Ron Paul guy was making a lot of sense but it would just be throwing away my vote which is why I held my nose and voted for McCain even though he gives me the creeps. So it turns out that I threw away my vote anyway AND sacrificed my own principles.”

[Enough reading and research to minor in Political Science. I now have a firm grasp on economics and many of the things that used to confuse me (“Why is so-and-so doing that? It makes absolutely NO SENSE!”) now fit together like a logical jigsaw puzzle.]

2012: “Obama again. I’m a little surprised but not much. After Clinton got back in I no longer count on common sense of the general public. There sure seems to be a lot of detailed, credible allegations of voter fraud in alternative media. Would it have made sense if the Republicans put forth someone with a backbone? And after how the Republicans treated Ron Paul, they have lost me for good. Simply disgraceful and childish and definitely just as dirty as anything on the Democrat side. For the first time my vote wasn’t wasted… it was my divorce decree to the oligarchy.”

2016: “I’ll probably vote for the House and local elections but I’m no longer buying into the charade of national elections. I’ll submit a vote of ‘No Confidence’ by refusing to play their game.” I had a respected professor in college who said that in politics you ALWAYS vote for character. It doesn’t matter what they say but what they do and have done. If every two years your spouse went on a months-long tirad insisting they are faithful but then continually cheated on you and didn’t even try to hide it, would you stay with them?