some of you who have read my posts and diaries might be surprised by this -- but i'm a registered nj republican.
below is a post i posted on another thread.
why am i making it into a diary?
- because i think it would be a nice counterpoint on the day after the alito confirmation to see a +lot+ of these "i'm a republican who votes with the democratic party"/"i'm a recovering republican" diaries. especially since the outside world might be giving us a longer look in the next few days, because the media wanted to rubberneck at our anguish over alito.
- because republicans need more encouragement to FOLLOW YOUR PRINCIPLES, NOT YOUR PARTY. (are you listening, lincoln chaffee? i'm talking to +you+.)
so i'm a registered republican in new jersey. the story doesn't have a big conversion angle. i was never a kool-aid drinker. just a rank-and-file republican who thought the republicans stood for something other than what they do.
read on, if you wish...
i have always been very interested in politics and governance even when very little. i grew up in nj, like you, where for the most part, there was the freedom to choose between R and D on a ballot and not feel you were screwing the human race, the environment, the world, or the economy.
i have always been very interested in politics and governance even when very little. i grew up in nj, like you, where for the most part, there was the freedom to choose between R and D on a ballot and not feel you were screwing the human race, the environment, the world, or the economy.
my core values have always been the same: human rights, respect for science and the environment, choice (yes, even when i was under 10 years old), and responsible financial stewardship of budgets and the economy.
my house didn't discuss politics, but it was understood that my father voted republican (no other consideration) and my mother probably too.
from their guidance, and the way nj politics were, i thought the republicans and the democrats were really not so far apart on human rights and the environment, but that there was a huge difference regarding financial issues.
two things happened:
1) as a teenager i began to be aware that the democrats were +definitely+ more the defenders of human rights and the environment
and
2) ronald reagan
i was initially fine (and even happy) with his win, as foreign policy issues were important to me, and i saw a diminution of american power and influence (and thus its ability to lend the world stability). what i did not like was that i perceived reagan to not be a particularly intelligent person, and someone who seemed to be "on show" much of the time. i also did not like the aura of "power for us and our kind" that he and his administration brought in.
ironically, during the primaries, i supported george hw bush. i thought he was a decent man and i was impressed by his resume as un ambassador, head of cia, etc. (in that, i must regretfully say, i was wholly naive -- we should +never+ countanance a president who was in the spook business).
i grew to despise the reagan administration. it was obvious that they were anti-woman. they didn't even have the sensitivity to be too upset that the secretary of the interior, james watt (who was there to pillage, not protect), referred to a group (i'm going to paraphrase) in part as "two jews and a cripple."
i mean, really.
it was obvious that the republican party at the national level was against everything that was important to me. but i still felt i could vote for their representatives on a local and state level (something that i no longer feel i have the freedom to do).
i've never switched party affiliations. unless they expire, i'm still a registered republican.
why don't i switch?
i've thought about it. but i'm not sure what that would serve.
because my experience with the republican party has shown me that i'm loyal to my +principles+, not party. i'm loyal to justice, fairness, equality, prosperity for all and respect for the planet that supports us all.
i actually see the greens or parties like them that espouse and act more along the ways that i would like ('tho not all).
but i have and will +never+ vote green when the two top contenders are an R and a D. i will vote D. unless it's a race between someone like trafficant and pete mcclosky (he who helped write the endangered species act); then, i'd have to vote R. but i don't think we ever have to worry about a scenerio like that.
btw -- for those who say they keep their republican party affiliation so they can vote in the primaries for the lesser republican evil? that only works if you actually vote in the primaries. i say this as a part of a realization that that has been a (minor) reason for my not officially switching to D, but really haven't gotten myself out to the primary voting booth recently, because the republican party, well, disgusts me.
so, i think i understand where you're coming from.
you are not alone.
follow your principles, not your party.
P.S. btw, another reason not to switch my party affiliation might be that when they come to round up democrats and average citizens, we can all use my home as a "safehouse."
cheers --