Hello Kossacks, I'm a new guy here. I've visited DailyKos since probably late 2006, but never registered to become part of the DailyKos community until about a week ago.
This is my first diary, and since a community is all about sharing, I thought I would use my first diary to share how I got here.
Over the jump we go!
First off, I should say that through most of my childhood, my entire family was staunchly Republican. I grew up in eastern Oregon, which for those of you not familiar with my state is the much more conservative half of the state. I also grew up to be a Republican, and remained so until about a couple of years ago.
I was a strong supporter of the Iraq war when it began and for a couple years after. In 2004, I turned 18 and cast my first vote for Bush. I bought into all the garbage about how Democrats were weak, and I believed the "liberal media" had it in for Bush, and all the things that I came to realize are simply rationalizations for people who don't want to admit to themselves that they are wrong.
For those of you who have never undergone the conversion experience that I and others have undergone, there is one thing you must understand about it: it is a slow, and somewhat painful process. People are proud, and I am no different, and pride can be the biggest obstacle that prevents someone from admitting a mistake. It is not a good feeling when you realize that you might not be one of the "good guys", so to speak.
I remember very specifically the day when I first had that feeling. It was in my sophomore year of college here in Portland, and very soon after Hurricane Katrina had struck. In one of my political science classes, we were discussing the fallout of the whole disaster, and as the only outspoken Republican in the class that I was aware of, I took on the task of defending Bush. I made the same arguments that Bush himself did, saying how people had been given plenty of chances to leave, saying that the Democrats were trying to use a natural disaster for political gain, and so on in this vein.
But for the first time, on this day, I felt a lingering uncertainty as I argued Bush's side that I had never really felt before. It made no sense to me how an Arabian horse trader could be made head of FEMA, and I was having a hard time justifying that particular bit of cronyism to myself. And as I left the classroom, I remember very distinctly having the thought that maybe the reason I was having such misgiving about defending Bush, was because his actions in the matter were simply indefensible.
For someone who was a strong partisan Republican like myself, that first step of simply considering the possibility that your side might be wrong, is a bigger step to take than you might imagine. It is not a good feeling when you first seriously consider the possibility that you playing for the wrong side.
For a few months after, I simply stopped defending Bush. This didn't mean I had been "converted" yet, but I was more unsure of where I really belonged. Over those months, I seriously began to question whether the Republican Party shared my values, or indeed whether or not they had any "values" at all. I felt myself gravitating more and more towards the Democrats, until, in the spring of 2006 I decided I had to pick one side or another. I re-registered as a Democrat.
In 2006, I voted a straight Democratic ticket. In 2008, I will do the same. Everyone has youthful indiscretions; some experiment with hard drugs, or perhaps have an unplanned pregnancy. I voted for Bush. Can't undo that vote, but I can at least dedicate myself towards fighting for the good guys from here on out, so that is why I am here in the Democratic Party and at DailyKos. One thing I like about DailyKos that is lacking in elected Democrats far too often is the willingness here to stand up proudly for the values that Democrats share, without hedging or sidestepping. Democrats fight for political power, Kossaks fight for a shared movement, and for that reason DailyKos is superiour in my view, and I want to be a part of that.
If you're still here reading this, thank you for taking the time to do so, and if you have a similar experience or a story about how you got to be here, please do share it in the comments, I'd like to hear it!