Becoming a Democrat

Becoming A Democrat

Philadelphia, Pa

1981

I was born into a republican family. My father was active in the republican party. As a result, he was appointed a Commissioner for the Public Utilities commission (PUC) by a republican governor.  He was nominated to the Federal Court as a judge by Ronald Regan. He belongs to the Union League, a Republican Club in Philadelphia, at that time for men only.

When I was a kid, my father would buy a table to the annual Republican fundraiser in Philadelphia. Tickets in 1965 were $100 a piece.  The whole family would go to this event which served as the annual political revival for all of us in attendance.  We heard about the scary Democrats who were ruining our country. We heard jokes about the “incompetent” mayor of the city.  We were given political buttons to wear.  I still have my Barry Goldwater pin; a gold elephant with large black eyeglasses. I don’t remember what we eat other than the snapper soup which my mother allowed us to pour as much sherry on top as we wanted.  This seem to be the only thing I took away from these dinners.

But, for years, I heard my father repeatedly tells us that the democrats were ruining our country.

When I was 18, I was allowed to vote in my first election.  I blindly registered and voted Republican. I voted from the first time in the general election in 1973.  I don't remember who was in that first race. It wasn’t until I moved away from my family that I began to have different conversations about the world. My college days were filled with discussions about social injustice, women’s rights, gender equality, ending the Vietnam War, civil rights and the environment.  And so my thinking began to evolve.

In 1976, I voted for President for the first time. I voted for Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter.  I liked both men but I was most grateful to Ford for bring some calm to our country after Richard Nixon left town.  But for the first time in my life, I remember being torn between both candidates.  I was sorry that Ford lost but for the first time I paid attention to the words of our democratic president. I liked what Jimmy Carter had to say about America and our role in the world. He spoke about views that were now mine.

So, in 1980, I voted for Carter and was greatly disappointed to see Ronald Reagan in the White house.  Now, 30 years later, I have become more like my father than I had ever imagines.  I, too, have become rigid in my politics.  But unlike my father who thought Democrats are ruining our country, I think Republicans are ruining our world.