I confess it. I voted for Ronald Reagan. Once. He was the only Republican Presidential candidate that I have ever voted for. The year was 1980. This was a very bad year. I had just bought a house with a 13% mortgage. Inflation was high. American citizens were being held hostage in Iran. The Soviets had invaded Afghanistan. There was dissension in the party from Ted Kennedy who ran unsuccessfully for President in the primaries. And President Carter seemed overwhelmed with all of these issues.
I did not support Reagan. I'd always voted Democratic. But as that election approached, there just seemed to be more going wrong with the country than going right. I clearly remember agonizing on election day with my wife who was of like mind. We couldn't believe that we could even consider voting Republican but things looked just too bad. So we got out of the car, went to the polling place and voted for Reagan. He won in a landslide, so I know many, many people went through this same experience.
Ultimately, I regretted that vote because of the consequences that came of Reagan. But the conditions in the country demanded adjustment, and Carter just didn't seem to have the means to do it.
This is what is facing this country again. And I know that come election day, lots of Republicans will be sitting in their cars in a cold sweat contemplating going in to actually vote for a Democrat for President for the first time. I feel for them. But yes, things are that bad, my Republican friends. And you will remember that vote for the rest of your life. But you will have to do it because things are that bad.