This is an autobiography of my changing personal views and political choices.
I grew up in a rural community, with a Republican father and Democratic mother (I didn't realize this until years later). I'd get lectures from my mother every day on the way home from school about the importance of equality, healthy habits, the good in others, saving, treating others with fairness and respect, etc. My father raised me to do as I was told, respect my elders, and to praise God and to work for my dreams. Mom and Dad were both moderate in their political views, and neither openly spoke of their political choices or debated politics in front of me.
Enter the 2004 elections. I was nineteen and politically unaware. I knew my president but not my representatives. I knew the structure of the government, but not the pressing social or economic issues of the time or of my generation. I thought all politicians were bold and virtuous members of society. I was naive.
My boyfriend's family was religious and socioeconomically conservative, and their views had a heavy influence on me. I wasn't particularly religious, but I attended church gatherings and I welcomed the comfort and sense of purpose. I was quite distraught because I felt that people should marry whomever they pleased and should only bring children into the world that they could love, but the church taught that abortion and same sex couples were immoral. To my greatest shame, my boyfriend threatened to leave me if I didn't sign anti-abortion and anti-same sex marriage petitions,and I signed them. Worse, I voted for George W. Bush in the presidential election because of my internal debate over religion.
Fast forward to age 21. After a heart-wrenching break up with said boyfriend, I felt like my life was on track. College has this amazing ability to open ones eye's to different cultures and worldviews, and I soaked up all that social knowledge like a sponge. I was still very ignorant about economics and politics, but I had my own firm beliefs about social issues. Perhaps it was the repugnant way that my ex's family wore their religion like a badge of honor, publicly advertising their smug moral superiority (while privately judging and breaking all tenets of a good christian), that turned me away from religion in general. I believe in science, in what is quantifiable and observable, not a book of fairy tales. My mother's "lectures" took a deeper root in me than even I knew... I became an idealistic liberal and I believed that America could become a Utopian society - all I had to do was vote. I followed the primaries and general election of 2008 with fervor. Facebook battles over politics were followed by desperate phone conversations with family members. President Obama's election night speech was inspiring.
My life has changed for the better since the 2008 election. I earned my MS degree, got married and moved across the country for a job. President Obama didn't do this for me - I made this happen. I knew that there were no jobs available in my field for those with no experience, and I made the choice to further my education. The critical thinking skills I developed as a graduate student have made me a pragmatist. I'm not the idealist that I was in my early twenties.
I'm going to vote for Obama and the Democrats again in the 2012 election, but for different reasons than in 2008. Its not the promise and the slogan and the dream of a utopian society anymore that moves me to vote. I want to protect the ACA; I want a liberal president in office to appoint the next Supreme Court Justice. I want legislators that strive to inform the citizens about legislative measures and not intentionally misinform voters. Facts and figures should be a representative or senator's voting compass, not religion. More than anything, I want my congressmen/women to represent all of their constituency, not half - please, is it too much to ask for bipartisanship? Legislators must craft smart, reasonable and practical legislation to improve the social and economic condition of this country. The 112th congress did not do their jobs, but instead focused on filibusters, pushing flaky laws with no chance of passing, and finger point. May the 113th congress be a vast improvement!
