Political Follies

I was born into a family of Democrats. My first memory of being political was the night of the Stevenson/Eisenhower election. I remember praying for Stevenson that night as I was falling asleep. I have no idea why I wanted it, only that my mom and dad wanted it. My parents actually never really talked politics to me. It was just those 4 year events that exposed their Democratic desires. In the earlier mentioned apartment house my sister called Peyton Place, my dad had a bet with one of the neighbors who felt as passionately about their candidate, Richard Nixon, as my folks did about John Kennedy. The loser would take the winner's family out to dinner. So off we went to a nice restaurant sometime that November.
How odd it was that I really didn't know the difference between the 2 parties. I just knew Democrats good, Republicans bad. Then, some 9 years later, a patient in the dentist's office where I worked, gave me this simple explanation of the differences between the Democrats and the Republicans. Democrats create lots of programs and government departments and Republicans believe in less programs and less departments. That was about the most I was involved in a political discussion, except the occasional Viet Nam protest, for many years. I would definitely vote in the national elections, and the first time I went to Washington, D.C., I felt deeply patriotic and fascinated with our history. It didn't hurt that Spiro Agnew had just resigned and Gerald Ford was being approved by Congress to become the Vice President. We sat in the upstairs visitors viewing area of the House, and watched our democratic policy in action. The whole Nixon debacle was mildly interesting to me, and I felt connected to Gerald Ford slightly because I had witnessed his confirmation hearings. The Carter years were punctuated by gas lines and the daily count of how long the hostages were held in Iran.
I remember feeling humiliated as I waited in line to vote for Jimmy Carter the 2nd time when it was announced that he just conceded to Ronald Reagan. I voted for him anyway, but the thrill was certainly gone. As the 4 years of Carter faded in the US collective memory, I really didn't care about Reagan, but I hadn't really cared about a president since JFK anyway, so it was all status quo. The 1st George Bush Presidency only stood symbolically as the year I remarried, bought a house with Hubby and gave birth to Sonny boy. Very Blissful. Oh yes, and "Read My Lips, No New Taxes."
Bill Clinton caught my eye as he got the "hook" at the Democratic convention in 1988. I seemed to love that guy. Then he ran for president on a platform of gays in the military and on his inauguration day, rescinded it to "don't ask don't tell." I was mad at him for not getting stem cell therapy going, and for not helping California with their medical marijuana issues. The whole Monica Lewinsky episode was pretty disgusting and I do remember calling Jiffy Lube with a billboard idea that would say...Lube and Ski. They didn't like it.
I never voted for George W. I had been listening to conservative talk radio too long and found him to be a terrible conservative. Al Gore, OK. A good looking dude, but people didn't seem to believe him or understand him until he came up with the whole global warming issue. John Kerry, no charisma at all. Why do candidates come up with these stupid chants? It reminds me of group think...yukky. His was "Bring it On." Oy.
Present day. Didn't vote for Obama. I had a cousin who asked me not to vote at all. She admits, she is a socialist.
Why do people distrust politicians so much, then when one becomes the President, all of the sudden, he or she, deserves our deepest respect? When I was reading the paper yesterday morning about California's imminent financial abyss and sighing loudly, thinking, how stupid our legislators are, my Hubby asks, "does anyone do anything right?"
"No!" was my declaration of independence.