This has been a long time coming and I wasn't sure it would ever happen but my strongly Republican husband is finally admitting that Obama is the better candidate.
First some background - when I first met my husband over fifteen years ago, he was not very political. Over the years, however, he became more and more conservative. He considered himself an Independent until the late '90's when he officially wed himself to the GOP. He listens to conservative talk radio shows on the way to work and has defended Fox News in the past (more on that later). But believe it or not, to those who generalize and demonize all Republicans, he is a great guy and his evolution over the past several months is proving it once again. Follow me after the jump, to read about it. (In over 8 months here this is only my second diary and I am not a great writer, so please forgive any errors.)
Wow, thanks for putting in on rec'd list. Almost as nice as getting his vote ;)
We have generally avoided politics over the last several years as it was difficult not to get overly emotional. As a result, I have never totally understood his gravitation to the GOP and for the sake of my marriage I haven't pushed it beyond what he has been willing to say. However, I do know a few of the reasons:
- Impeachment - In the spirit of unity I won't go into details, but the last years of the Clinton administration really turned him off of the Democratic party. That was when the right wing started getting their hooks into him.
- Welfare state programs which he felt perpetuated the problems of the underclass - As an African American he came to believe- through personal experience - that many social programs (although they may have been passed with the best intentions) only serve to keep blacks in a downward spiral. A big beef he had with the older generation of Democratic urban leaders is their lack of leadership in addressing real problems in the community and showing some introspection in taking responsibility and in promoting a positive agenda for the black community.
- His job - he works as an aerospace engineer and the industry tends to be Republican leaning, so I am sure the rightward bias is reinforced in the workplace.
- Free enterprise - he bought into the pro-business spin of the GOP that lower taxes is always better and the free market will be the best allocator of resources.
During the 2000 election season, I knew Bush had a real shot at winning, and I pleaded with him not to vote for Bush. We compromised and he wrote in McCain. He voted for Bush in 2004. Fast forward to this cycle and he had hesitations about McCain this time around. He, like many conservatives, thinks of him as a RHINO. He was "not going to vote for Obama just because he was black", but during the primaries he grew to respect what Obama was trying to do by leaving the racial victimization aside and move beyond it. He also began to notice the tone of the way Fox News was covering the race. Bit by bit, I would try subtly point out the obvious fear mongering tactics of Fox. Previous defenses of the network turned into "I never really watch Hannity anyway". Over time I noticed he was watching less and less Fox and more PBS news (which is what I watch). Fox finally jumped the shark with him with the "terrorist fist bump".
So even though I realized he was not enthused with the direction of the GOP campaign, in July it still came as a complete shock to me when strolling downtown on our way to dinner he said, "I have a admission to make, I can't vote Republican this year. I can't vote Democratic but I will have to sit it out." I asked him what made him make that choice. He said that although he disagrees with much of the "big government" (his words) stance of the Democratic party, he slowly began to realize that the Republicans do not have much of a plan to deal with the country's major problems.
We talked for a good hour over our dinner about why this country needs a real energy plan beyond drilling and he admitted that if we had listened to Carter back in the 1970's, this country would be better off. We also talked about why education is the best hope to keep this country competitive. He agreed that if Republicans view the marketplace as such a great tool for maximinzing benefits, then not paying teachers more money is complete hypocrisy. Better pay means a better pool of teachers. He also agreed that getting universal health care would make US companies more competitive in the global community and that if partisan positions could be dropped, we could have a decent plan pass which would be better for everybody. It was our best political discussion in years and made for a great anniversary.
He still wasn't completely on board though. He had worries that Obama would be driven too far to the "left" once in office and that timetables in Iraq were a mistake, so he was content to sit it out and see what happened. He said one of the reasons he was okay with McCain winning ( if it came to that) is that it would signal that the party didn't need to cater to the religious right.
Last week I watched a lot of the Democratic convention, but he wasn't usually in the room and didn't say much. Thursday I went to watch Obama's speech at a viewing party (so I could let loose) and when I got home I was curious to see if he had watched it. He said he had, but again didn't say much, so I let him be.
Knowing that McCain was going to make his VP announcement Friday, before heading to work my husband said, "I think it will be Kay Bailey Hutchinson, I think is his best shot. Responsible, and goes after the women's vote". He called me mid-morning right after the news broke and I asked him if he had heard the pick. He said no. So I told him and he said "who is that" with disbelief in his voice. I told him the 18 month governor of Alaska. Again didn't say much that day, but on Saturday he had no problem watching our kids for several hours so I could go canvassing here in VA.
Well fast forward a few days and he still couldn't believe McCain would so blatantly risk our country's national security, but he believed the GOP hype of her being a "reformer" (which appeals to his fiscally conservative side). Last night we watched her speech and I pointed out each and every lie that came out of her mouth for which I had the hard facts (Bridge to Nowhere, against earmarks, more votes than Biden, Obama having no major legislative accomplishments, etc.). I added in the stuff about the AIP and her social positions. I don't know which was the proverbial straw: her lack of experience on foreign affairs, the fact that she is obviously a pick of the religious right, her obvious shading of the truth, or the negative almost belittling tone she (and the others speaking last night) used in relation to Obama. All I know is that before going to bed he said, "Let's vote together this year" and I am sure he meant more than carpooling to the voting booth.