Hi
My name is BWS, and I am a recovering alcoholic
...oops wrong meeting...recoveringCatholic...again lost my train of thought
Let me try again....I am a recovering RINO...let me rephrase that I am a recovered RINO
As of today, I am a legally registered voter of the DEMOCRATIC party in the state of Florida
Let me explain how I became a Republican, since it is germain to my conversion. When I moved to Brevard County in 1990, I was an (I) who voted in the general. It became apparent after a few cycles, that the winners of the Republican primary for most local offices were a lock for the general elections. Being a pragmatist, I switched the (I) for a (R) so I could have a say in what happened here.
I continued to vote my true conscience in the general elections, and gleefully screwed with the (R)'s in the primaries, particularly when it came to polls & robocalls. According to the DNC & Gov. Dean, I am a card carrying member who donates. I have my Kerry/Edwards yard sign tucked away in my hope chest, but I stubbornly held onto my (R). I have been a member of DKos since 2004, a real live true blue lurker who rarely posted and never wrote a diary.
But something changed, something inside of me starting stirring. It came to a head during the Florida Primary, for the first time ever I regretted my (R), I was ashamed of the Red stripe on my ballot. I actually apologized to the young fresh face at my polling place for not getting a BLUE striped ballot, I felt like I let HER down.
I started posting here more each day since the primary, comments & recommends started flowing from my keyboard. And much to my shock, TU status popped up. But again, I felt like a fraud since I knew my dirty little secret, I was not a registered Democrat.
My cynical attitude was ebbing, I can & should do more. I need to help getting progressive candidates for local offices, and not let the (R) side automatically win.
I owed it to those younger than me to take a stand, for the future...a better future at all levels. I owed it to my 15 year old son to stop playing games and take a stand, draw a line in the sand.
Maybe it was the reawakening of the Kennedy spirit I was raised with and stuffed as I got older & more cynical. It was time for me to ask myself, what can I do for my country & the future?
Today I went to the Supervisor of Elections and officially became a Democrat, my new voter card will be delivered next month. And come the general election in November, I will cheerfully, openly & proudly proclaim I am a DEMOCRAT.
It's a cliche, but this is my first diary. I never imagined it would be about this topic, but my AA steps have taught me to admit the exact nature of my wrongs to another human being, and who better than come clean to than my fellow Kossacks.
My name is BWS, and I am a DEMOCRAT