I met the most remarkable man today. Mr Purcell is 95-years old and a life-long Democrat, who told me that he remembers when Roosevelt ran against Hoover. He's seen a great deal in his lifetime, and he firmly believes that our country is in grave danger if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan win the upcoming Presidential election.
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I told him that it galled me to know that Texas' electoral college votes would go to the Republicans, but that I'd still vote, because there was always a chance that Texas would turn blue.
He nodded in agreement and proudly said that he still voted in every election. He said he remembered when a person couldn't hold office in Texas if they weren't a Democrat, but he explained, "It all changed during the Civil Rights era. The bigots couldn't accept it, so they switched over to the Republicans." He looked pensive for a moment, and continued, "Texans used to take pride in having a backbone, but look at us now."
"We need that backbone more than ever. Look at what the Republicans want to do with Medicare," I said.
I didn't even have to continue. He knew exactly what I was about to say.
"Vouchers," he said, shaking his head, his voice thick with disgust. "They want to replace Medicare with vouchers."
But what was worse to Mr. Purcell was that his 70-year old daughter-in-law didn't believe vouchers would happen. He was appalled that anyone could think that it wouldn't happen if the Republicans win this election.
"They'll get rid of Medicare," he said. "They've been trying to get rid of Medicare for years."
He said that inability of the poorly-informed to believe that the Republicans truly are determined to gut Medicare is a serious problem for the Democrats. "We have to make sure people know the truth," he said, because it's easier for people to believe the lies.
I wish we'd had more time to talk, but it just wasn't possible. However, I was delighted to spend a few minutes speaking with him, and amid the great sea of red that is our semi-rural area of Texas, I think he was pleased to find someone else in blue.