Why I Became A Democrat
Me “Shutting Down the Strip for Education”
Why did I become a Democrat? It’s an interesting story, so I hope you will read through. Recently, a member of my own party has brought up that I used to be a Republican and even fed it to a local blogger who subsequently posted the details. I’ve always been open about my political past. In fact, I think my story is interesting, and perhaps a helpful lesson on several fronts.
Yes, I plead guilty to having been a conservative, but only by reason of insanity. Being a conservative was the result of cultural and environmental factors, and I suspect that most conservatives are the same. I grew up Mormon, and over 70% of them are Republicans. Many of my friends and family were conservative.
I was never involved with the Republican Party, other than simply being an attendee of the 2008 presidential caucus. I did, however, begin my blogging career at a conservative blog. Naturally, I made some typical conservative minded comments there that I would be very critical of today.
So what happened to me since then? It’s called an education. I had classes in anthropology, world politics, environmental science, astronomy, political philosophy, comparative politics, and many others. I learned about critical thinking in philosophy 102. I learned what makes an argument a good argument, and what doesn’t. I soon discovered that critical thinking and conservative politics don’t mix well.
After discussing an incident between Palestinians and Israelis with a professor, I told him that I wasn’t closed minded about the situation (of course I always leaned Israel) and was attempting to use critical thinking, and an unbiased view, and simply wanted to “know the truth.” My professor suggested that “knowing the truth” may not be what it’s all about. He explained that “In politics, things are less often about the truth, and more often about perspectives. Understand perspectives, and you’ll understand politics a lot better.” Boy, that was really powerful for me.
I started applying that philosophy to my studies, trying to understand all the perspectives. I soon found that many of my preconceptions were pig headed.
Even science classes started changing my perspective. In astronomy, I saw evidence of climate change as a man made phenomenon that just simply cannot be dismissed with any real honesty. That’s a crucial word. I changed my political philosophy because I was honest with myself. I was ignorant in many ways, but as I learned more and more, I realized I had been wrong about so many things.
My education experience had been so enlightening and empowering to me, that in 2009/2010 I became fed up with Republican governor Jim Gibbons and his cuts to education in Nevada. I switched party affiliations, and began organizing other students to join me in fighting these cuts. I was going to be damned if they take away what had given me so much! I testified at legislative hearings in Las Vegas and Carson City in 2010. By 2011, I was pushing for a huge demonstration in Carson City with students from all across the state. I worked directly with students from UNLV, Nevada State College and CSN to make it happen. You may recall seeing SOS shirts in black and yellow. That was a shirt I designed myself.
My buddy Sebring Frehner and I were big voices in the push to make a big splash up there in Carson City. We worked hand in hand with JT Creedon, Kyle George, Aimee Riley, Michael Flores, and so many others. When it happened, we brought 15 buses just from southern Nevada full of students and signs. Guy Rocha estimated that it was the largest protest in Carson City history, and the biggest crowd since Teddy Roosevelt visited around the turn of the century. I am very proud of what we did. We told Republicans that they were crazy to be cutting higher ed and k-12.
While I am not proud of having been a conservative, I am proud that I was able to change and begin fighting for good progressive causes. That’s one of the main reasons I volunteer on my county Democratic Party committee executive board. I want to help Democrats win so that we can have representatives who care about education, among other things.
I thought this was a good opportunity to have a discussion about why people are conservative. Just remember that your conservative friends have the potential to be progressive warriors given the right information. My change did not happen overnight. I was being called a RINO by my conservative friends long before I switched parties, and of course people on the left thought I was a big conservative. People are slow to change. Have patience and don’t give up hope. Keep trying to gently persuade. Teach critical thinking. Again, this is why education is so important. It was professors and fellow students having an honest and classy conversation with me that helped. Calling me names wasn’t going to change my mind. Remember, conservatives just have a perspective, it’s not that they are bad people. Try to remember that when you discuss politics with them. Try to appeal to their perspectives.
In the final analysis, we should recognize that no political party is perfect. Sometimes, members of your own party may engage in personal attacks, and you might not even understand why. We must look past the human conflicts that will naturally arise among us. I try to focus on why I’m doing this… trying to make a positive change in the world. As the about section of this website states, I am an advocate for the rights of working people, women, children, immigrants, LGBT citizens and indigenous people. I blog in support of freedom of personal choices, for peace, for the health of our planet, and against racism.
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Justin is the publisher The Nevada View, which has earned the recognition in the Washington Post’s “Best State-Based Political Blogs,” as well as being awarded the “Most Valuable Blogger Award” by the local CBS affiliate in 2011. Justin is also an associate at the Ramirez Group in Las Vegas. Follow him on Twitter @McAffee |
8 Responses to Why I Became A Democrat
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I must admit that since I was first allowed to vote back in Florida back in 1972. They had just changed the laws from 21 to 18, so I was allowed to vote, drink and do other things I probably wasn’t supposed to be doing.
As an aside, I was working at a police department in Florida at the time, a sworn in police officer, believe it or not and some of the laws didn’t actually change to common sense. Although I was permitted the right to own a gun as a peace officer, for some stupid reason the State of Florida did not change the ammunition laws. So, when I went to the gun store, I always had to have a letter from my Chief of Police that authorized me to buy target ammunition. Because I was 18 years old. The old codgers at the gun store would point at me, laugh hysterically and tell everyone that I have a letter from mommy that authorized me to buy ammo. I’d give a sick little smile, do my business, then get the hell out of there.
Anyways….
When I registered to vote, I always remembered the sense of hope, the patriotism, the excitement, the belief that the future would be better, and a chance that Camelot would happen that I experienced when John F. Kennedy was President. Although too young to vote at the time, I still remembered it. I registered Democratic Party affiliation based upon that. And I have never changed. To this day, I still say Kennedy was the best President in my life time. Well, President Obama is pretty close though too, I have to admit, but that is still ongoing, it’s not relegated to history for me to emphatically say.
But, I did make a mistake once though. Upon immediately getting my voting card, I voted for a Republican. Back in 1972, I voted for Richard M. Nixon.
And what happened from that vote? A total waste. The guy was and still is certified to be a crook. Culminating with that stupid photo of him boarding Marine One, turning, raising both hands with the V, stupid grin on his face, turning back, getting aboard and disappearing from the public eye in humiliation and shame.
Because of that, to this very day, I have NEVER EVER voted for another Republican. Not even Dogcatcher General of the United States of America. I don’t care if a reincarnation of Mother Theresa suddenly shows up on a Tea/Republican ballot. I won’t vote for her. Unless she changes parties.
Makes me sound vindictive, but I don’t care. My voting record all throughout the years (since the Nixon debacle) made me proud that I made the right votes.
As another aside, I was stationed overseas active duty military when I voted absentee ballot through Volusia County in Florida when that nonsense surfaced about the close race.
I found out later they counted my ballot once by machine and TWICE by hand. And each time they counted it, it STILL said the same thing. There was no hanging chad, a dog didn’t chew on it, nor anything else. I still say it was a blatant attempt to steal that election. And through stupid Republicans in Florida, combined with the U.S. Supreme Court and mix in Fox News prematurally doing victory laps, all that just led to American democracy being hijacked.
I had an Australian come up to me and say, hey, mate, what’s this crap going on in Florida with votes in the Presidential race, you can’t count? I just looked at him and said, um, yeah, something like that. In other words, Americans didn’t see this, but around the world, we looked silly.
Anyways, it is now confirmed in hindsight that my vote didn’t mean a damn, other than to mix it around, twist it, spindle it, mutilate it, to suit a political agenda.
To this day, I WILL NEVER vote for another Tea/Republican EVER AGAIN in my life.
They can all go to hell.
Sorry, that’s just how I feel.
I think everyone needs to understand why they belong to one political party or another. In my case, both of my parents were “Rockefeller Republicans” living in Upstate NY. Taxes and Government Programs were not bad things to them. They always tried to vote the person, not the party. To this day, my Dad is proud to have voted for Anderson in 1980, and Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996.
Growing up in the 1980s, my Dad experienced several bouts of unemployment. Through the help of government programs, we were able to keep food on the table, we qualified for the free school lunch program and surplus food programs (along with unemployment assistance). My Mom was able to get a Pell Grant and other government subsidies (NY State’s Tuition Assistance Program) that allowed her to complete her bachelor’s degree. My sister and I were able to use these same programs to help earn our Bachelors and Graduate Degrees through the assistance of these programs, along with federally-subsidized Stafford loans.
For those that were at the first 2008 Clark County Democratic Party Convention and heard now-Senator Franken speak, we heard him talk about government helping to provide assistance when people are simply a little down. It’s all well and good to expect someone to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but what happens when you don’t have any boots?
I know a lot of people that are taking a good look at the Democratic Party. They see a GOP that demands ideological purity along some weird tax cut/social conservative lines. They find that they agree with us on a great many issues. We need to continue to build our coalition and not drive these newcomers away.
I was never really a R or D; I chose the person who provided the best debate for what they stood for. Yes, debate. I never understood the Vietnam war, why, there was no debate, we were just fed what the warmongers wanted. Gee, sounds vagly familiar, we were fed a real line in 2003.
Well moving on up, we are now faced with a group of people, none of whom have any desire to debate the real problems we face, and give us real answers. It is all smoke and mirrors, don’t really discuss the economy, other than to cut spending beyond the bone. Now that does not take into consideration that all of those cuts just cut jobs, and the tax breaks handed out, because the federal government needs less money, will not go to building businesses, it will go to bigger homes, bigger boats, and more ofshore accounts.
The list of cuts, the list of what the federal government will regulate, but some how be smaller, baffles the economist who is non-partisan, and progressive.
What happened to debate? It became calling someone who does not truly believe, and are even more adamant on the subject you are, someone who is not a TRUE American. I liked the comment made by one extreme politician that when the other party finally, completely agreed to their agenda, then there would be room for negotiation.
The founding fathers failed the first time around, with the confederation of states, the federal government had too few powers and what they did have had no teeth. Those men returned to the debate table, spent another year hammering, molding, debating, rebuilding, and debating some more. What they built was the Constitution of the United States, a document that calls for debate, calls for the will of the majority, and that we are free to express our freedom, not force our ideals on others who move to a slightly different drummer.
Debate, the selling of your platform to the majority has somehow slipped away. I hope we find it again soon, I know my grandchildren will need it.
I am 65, I have fought to many battles, I no longer have the energy to bring people to gether like you do. Please pick up the banner of congenial, true debate; the idea that a majority of the people might be right. And one more thing, we can’t let the corpoprations (i.e. super pacs) BUY a government (watch a movie called Rollerball from the 70′s)
Thank you for opening a door, I hope I helped hold it open a bit.
Frank
Thanks for the comment Frank.
I completely agree with the fact that politics is perspectives. For me the only difference between most people is the solutions they think will work to solve problems. I also think the recent renewal of blood in the county Republican party bodes well for their future ability to negotiate amiable solutions that benefit all of the people of Clark County.
As a former Republican (for a short time only!) I simply could not identify with their priorities of the almighty dollar, and to hell with the everyday, blue-collar worker who struggled to survive each and every day. During the last few years working with the Obama campaign, since 2007, I have come to appreciate even more the concept of all of us, together, taking care of one another, and moving forward–it is not a concept that the Republican Party embraces, and I am PROUD TO BE A DEMOCRAT!
I think with the changes we are seeing in the republican party, that there have been, are and will be more people leaving the GOP and moving to independent status and democrat.
I have seen a few republicans switch to independent status and democrat status during my few voter registration outings this year, and I have yet to see one independent or democrat move to republican.
Feel cleansed in having moved from the dark side and into the light of progressivism !!!
Thanks to all the people like yourself who have welcomed me in, and put me to work!