I'm Democrat, sort of
I grew up on a dairy farm west of Republic. My parents were Depression-era farmers, my paternal grandpa was a butcher, and my maternal grandpa (Spanish-American War veteran) drove a team of horses grading state roads. One of my aunts was a riveter in a Wichita airplane factory during the war.
I was doing chores on the farm before I went entered the first grade. Slopping pigs, dressing chickens, gathering eggs, putting snakes in the granary, and cleaning cow teats were part of youth.
I spent a lot of time with my parents while they worked. They taught me values while we worked. Mom and dad told me how important it is to take care of the land and the animals. They emphasized honesty, hard work, humility, perseverance, and thrift are what makes a good person. I saw how families from all around would come together to bring in the harvest. Everybody loved to talk politics. They liked Eisenhower, Truman, and believed Roosevelt had helped save our country.
My parents took their strong conservative values to the voting booth but voted for Democrat Charley Brown and said good things about Kennedy. To this day, I like the Eisenhower-era economic policies, respect for working people, and progressive investment in infrastructure, education, and science.
Over the years, the Republican Party abandoned fiscal conservatism and walked away from social responsibility. They’ve became an ugly blend of selfish libertarianism and neoliberalism. The values and ideals I learned to associate with the Republican Party seemed to vanish. They became the Party of hate with their stand against migrants, the poor, Hispanics, gays, science, marijuana, reproductive choice, non-Christians, “liberals” and Middle Easterners. Their fake patriotism, fake news, fake ideas, fake economics, fake religion, and fake compassion shouldn’t fool anyone.
I’ve become a Democrat, in principle. The Party of the New Deal, that promotes inclusion, and gives lip service support for labor, universal healthcare, clean energy, public education, equal justice, and building a safe modern infrastructure would be my Party if they would walk the talk.