Hi everyone, my name's Darcie, and I'm a Republican.
When I turned 18, I registered to vote because that's just what you did when you turned 18. I had no idea which political party I should align myself with as, at that time, I wasn't really sure what beliefs I held. I knew I had zero interest in government...that's a hell of a start, huh? Send someone like that to the polls. Oh wait, that already happened.
I wasn't that ignorant. I knew where each candidate stood and which ideas to attribute to each politician. The people Sal interviewed in that video just sadden me. At first, I laughed. Then I just shook my head and that's my feeling to this day. Sad.
I went through college, all four years having liberalism beat into me with a giant green & white stick, never really thinking about politics, not even when Clinton was going through his impeachment trial. One of my dorm neighbors was a Republican and we were watching a section of the trial together between classes one day. All I could say was, "I don't even understand why this had to be an issue! So he got a little action. So what? That's his business. They shouldn't have made such an issue out of it." She was focused - an in retrospect, rightly so - on the fact that he lied under oath about it. In my head, I knew she was right, but I was stuck on the "it's none of our damn business in the first place" thought and couldn't wrap my head around the important part. I still contend that it shouldn't have been so public but that's a completely irrelevant opinion in light of the more serious matter of his snafu.
Anyway, I met Rob in the fall of my senior year there, right before 9/11. Some people blame him for my conversion from Independent to Republican but I can assure you (and them) that my conversion was all my own doing. He just opened my eyes to the other side of things and made me actually give a shit about what was going on in the world and in Washington. He made me think, something I was never encouraged to do. You're just handed a bunch of carefully-filtered information for the first 18 years, and then a bunch of obviously-filtered information in college, not to mention the barrage of one-sidedness the mainstream media feeds you, and you happily follow the herd. At least, that's my take on it as I look back.
In my first presidential election, in 2000, I voted for Gore. All I was really sure about was that he was pro-choice which, at the time, I supported. Even after I switched party affiliations, I was still pro-choice. Then I had a baby and all of that changed. I still believe abortion should be made available to women in cases of rape/incest or threats to the mother's health, but it shouldn't be a form of birth control.
In 2004, I happily and whole-heartedly voted for Bush. Now I'll grant you, the last eight years haven't been all sunshine and roses. He's made some crappy decisions and for a while there, cabinet members were disappearing like rats on a sinking ship. But his opponent reminded many of this:
Even if I was still an Independent at that point, there was no way I could stand behind a candidate who couldn't make up his mind. I needed confidence, I needed surety, and I needed someone who didn't stand on the same side as Jane Fonda.
And that brings us to this election, which I went on about *ahem* a few times in my other blog. I supported John McCain 110% and would do it again in a heartbeat for many reasons, but primarily because I firmly believe his policies would have fixed what's ailing America these days. You can't keep throwing money at problems and expect that to make it all better. Building more "affordable housing" isn't going to fix urban plights. If anything, it's going to encourage more laziness: don't work hard to afford a better life for yourself, just apply for affordable housing. The government will take care of you!
Oy.
So that's more or less where I'm at today. We'll see where tomorrow takes me.
