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I Held My Nose
Back in the day when I was still a Republican, back in 1999, I fell for McCain. I fell hard.
A war hero, a maverick, who cared about global warming, American Indian issues, campaign finance reform. He talked straight, he made sense.
My family, with the exception of one sister, supported George W. Bush instead. They gave me and my one sister pure grief via emails, letters, phone calls, for months. They belittled our great distain of Bush. They bullied us in an attempt to make us like him (as if). In the spring of 2000, my sister and I proudly and happily marched to the voting booths in the primary election (she on the east coast, me on the west) and voted for John McCain.
Alas, we lost.
"Dubya", “the Bush baby”, "that Bush boy" as I called him then (before he came up with bigger and better reasons for me to come up with bigger and better names), won the nomination instead.
My sister caved in pretty quickly, embraced her Inner Elephant and vowed to vote for Bush come November. Me, I held out. I held out for the longest time.
When my mother called me from NY in October of 2000, to wish me a happy birthday, she closed her call on a political note. She warned me that Gore stood a good chance of beating Bush and she begged, pleaded with me, even, to put aside my great dislike of Bush and vote for the Party.
I spent a month in turmoil. I swore I’d stay home on Election Day. But then, that old ‘party unity’ feeling grabbed hold of me, and I ended up voting for my party‘s nominee.
Yes.
I held my nose, and I voted for Bush.
Notwithstanding the fact that my misgivings about him proved true, I can honestly tell you all that in the long, LOOONNGGG months between Election Day 2000 and Inauguration Day 2001, I didn’t regret my vote for Bush one damned iota. Why? Because my mother was right. Every vote DID end up counting, that year.
I held my nose, and I voted for my party.
The fact that I was backing the wrong party notwithstanding, the lesson here is that party unification is important. Sometimes so important that every vote ends up counting. Every, single, vote. Whether it’s a vote made with pride, happiness and outright joy, or whether it’s a vote made with one hand on the lever and the other hand plugging your nose -- every vote matters. Every vote counts.
The Democratic Party needs you. It needs your vote in November. No matter who the nominee is.
Please, Democrats, hold your noses if you must, come November. But vote Democrat. No matter what.
Comments (56)
I don't agree with party loyalty above all else, but I applaud your honesty and thoughtfulness. Two questions though - assuming you eventually did, when did you begin to regret your vote? and, Have you converted any of your family members in the last 8 years?
May 14, 2008 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you believe that, why did you choose the one example guaranteed to convince us of the opposite proposition?
May 14, 2008 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
huh?
May 14, 2008 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're not helping much with the unrelentingly silly, high schoolish posts of you and your cohort. For many supporters of both candidates there is no turning back not because of the candidate but because of the candidates' supporters.
I knew this was going to come back and bite you people on the ass.
May 14, 2008 8:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your unrelenting negativism is valueless.
May 14, 2008 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Valueless indeed.
May 14, 2008 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I knew it too. The funny thing is that they haven't figured it out even now. They have no clue that their energies are going 24/7 towards offending voters they NEED to win in November. It's amazing to me. It's almost as if they think the August kegger to celebrate Barry's acension to the heavens is the end of the line.
May 15, 2008 12:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
BevD:
You are now forbidden to vote for Obama.
You may vote for McCain, write in Hillary's name, vote 3rd party, or even sit out the election.
You may not, however, vote for Obama in the 2008 election.
You will be watched to ensure compliance.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
May 15, 2008 1:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
BevD: Is this snark in response to LisB's post? I hope not - this is a great post! Thoughtful and refreshing.
My family are mostly Republicans with reason - there is no excuse for any Democrat to be baffled at that idea.
Each party reflects at the core certain American values which can nevertheless become corrupted. Self-reliance, strength, and honor 'on the right', Compassion, intellect, and personal freedom 'on the 'left'.
It just so happens the latter values are the ones America needs most to revive at this moment in time.
May 15, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, Bev...shut the hell up already.
Inspector Merlot, I realize that my post advocates voting for an asshole for the sake of the party, hence my careful wording. Please read it again.
Mass Dem: It was slow, my transformation. Having moved home to NY in 2000, I was here on 9/11. Still loyal to the party enough to *heart* Bush when he came here and shouted through that loudspeaker that he was here with us.
I ignored the 2004 election, not because I figured the Republicans would win, but because I no longer cared. I had given up on the news. I didn't quite see our occupation of Iraq as a threat, yet. Somewhere between 2004 and 2006, my views changed. I started paying attention again. And I did not like what I saw.
Meantime, for most of my life, I'd already been pro-choice, pro-medical research including stem cells, pro-planet and worried about our effect on nature, pro-peace, etc. So between 2004 and 2006, I realized, slowly, that I was not a Republican anymore.
Thanks for asking. I hope that answers your question.
May 14, 2008 8:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oops. You had a second question. The answer is yes. I'm trying to convert my sister who was for McCain alongside me, back in the day.
The rest, well...my dad passed away right before we captured Saddam Hussein. I'm kind of glad that he missed the rest.
My mom is still a die-hard "for the Party, downticket all the way, baby!" Republican, and my eldest sister is too. Her kids, though, are definitely Left, and for Obama.
I love smart kids.
May 14, 2008 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Party loyalty is admirable as long as it doesn't enable a rogue group to take over our whole government.
When Republicans who knew what a bunch of creeps Bush and his family and "friends" were voted for Bush out of parety loyalty, they enabled those creeps to take over our whole government.
Despite the fact they (those neocons) are just a particle of the whole Republican Party, they became its very "brand" and the lousy results (particularly pertaining to the environment and respect around the world) will be with us for decades, if not centuries.
There was something in the water in 1999 and 2000 that makes our Obama Kool Aid look like candy, compared to the pernicious and poisonous properties of the Republican brand.
How smart Republicans ever allowed themselves to be drawn down that destructive path still mystifies me.
Die hard Republicans made all of our lives harder, and many of them still seem to be proud of their loyalty to their arcane political cause.
When will the welfare of the whole nation finally trump these selfish Republicanisms?
When there's a Democrat in the White House and a majority in both chambers. But even then, with the Bush Court in session, we will suffer for what the Republicans did to us in putting their flawed boy-President legacy into office so willfully and selfishly.
May 15, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is a South Park episode that speaks to this issue. An election is taking place and the two candidates are the Giant Douche Bag and the Crap Sandwich. One of the kids wouldn't vote and the rest in town voted equally for both. The moral of the story is that even when all you have to choose between is a douche bag and a crap sandwich you should vote. Your vote is important even if it is for the lesser of two evils. People I know who voted for Nader in 2000 came to sorely regret it. There is always a lesser of two evils. The current "evil facor" is pretty high with Bush.
May 14, 2008 8:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love the Simpsons but I just don't "get" South Park. I respect it -- I just don't understand what Eric and Kenny and all them are saying, half the time. But I respect it for it's voice and it's point of view.
(Forgive me, David).
That being said, THANK YOU Bademus for getting my point.
May 14, 2008 8:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't normally sit down and watch an episode but saw most of that one. The image of two podiums with the cartoons of a giant douche bag and a crap sandwich, each with their little arms and legs, standing behind them in a debate has been etched permanently in my brain.
May 14, 2008 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brilliant!
May 14, 2008 10:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're scary.
May 14, 2008 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who is scary? Me, or Bademus. Explain.
May 14, 2008 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
May 14, 2008 9:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love Closed Captioning. I'm hard of hearing, so it comes in very handy.
But with South Park, you have to watch both the action on the screen, and the words at the bottom of the screen, at the same time. To me, it becomes overwhelming, trying to figure out which character just "wiggled" and spoke, and which character didn't, all the while following the words and the action. You know?
May 14, 2008 9:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Notwithstanding the fact that my misgivings about him proved true, I can honestly tell you all that in the long, LOOONNGGG months between Election Day 2000 and Inauguration Day 2001, I didn’t regret my vote for Bush one damned iota. Why? Because my mother was right. Every vote DID end up counting, that year."
That is typical Republican math: if my guy wins, every vote counts.
Problem being, in the 2000 election, not all votes in FL were counted EVEN ONCE. But I guess by a perversion of math, those NOT counted also counted because they WEREN'T counted.
And 5 high-profile individuals got to vote TWICE for their candidate -- which is VOTER FRAUD.
As result, the whole world has suffered as result of calling a illegitimate political appointee "president" instead of actually applying the truly conservative fact:
The Constitution stipulates that the authority to resolve election disputes of exactly that kind is lodged EXCLUSIVELY in CONGRESS.
May 14, 2008 9:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
JNagarya, I respect your anger.
However, you are forgetting that the Democratic national party itself chastised Florida and Michigan for voting early, by promising to ignore their votes. And the state Dems agreed to this, and so did Hillary, Barack, and John and everyone else.
You're trying to be the enabling parent who says to one of their kids, "You misbehaved today, and now you can't watch Cinderella on DVD with your brother and sister. Instead, you have to go to your room and read a book."
And then the kid whines and cries and has a tantrum, so you give in and let the kid watch Cinderella with his brother and sister.
May 14, 2008 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the law, it states that the election for president will be, "in each State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President."
If Florida (or any other state) was to vote a week early, it would be an illegal election.
The DNC made rules and because they don't have the U.S. Marshalls to come to anyone's door or a judge to tell them what they have to do, no one respects the DNC.
The rules were the rules and everyone was to abide by them... or not.
All this would be a lot different than counting what votes you want to and stopping the counting when you find enough for your candidate to win and then using a politically biased supreme court to disenfranchise voters that never broke any law or did anything wrong.
I voted Nader but Bush was my second choice in 2000. I have repented of everything that had to do with any thoughts I had at that time and now I just come from the perspective that people can learn the truth at sometime in their life.
May 15, 2008 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
"The rest, well...my dad passed away right before we captured Saddam Hussein. I'm kind of glad that he missed the rest."
Is there something positive in the fact that Saddam Hussein was "captured" -- especially as it was done based upon a multi-facted lie: that the Republican party actually opposed what he was and did? --
1. See Reagan's removal of Saddam's Iraq from the "State Sponors of Terrorism" list so he could "legally" sell him WMDs -- which he then used against Iran. (He did not "gas his own people: he was Sunni; those he ALLEGEDLY gassed were Kurds.)
2. My favorite Reagan memory is when he went on live TeeVee -- wearing his suit jacket -- waggled his finger at the camera, and declared: "I did not have sex with those terrorists to whom I gave the missiles in violation of the Trading with the Enemies Act!"
3. And see Bush I's promise to support the Shi'a if they would rise up against Hussein -- but when they did, he looked the other way, and the result was: MASS GRAVES.
4. Now the good news: Bushit (II) was clearly so morally disgusted about Hussein's tortures and "rape-rooms" that when the US took over (as example) Abu Ghraib, it hung a billboard-sized sign on the front door reading:
"Under NEW and IMPROVED Administration."
And proceeded to continue the Hussein tradition, not only of torturing the innocent, managing to "liberate" an untold number of them from the bonds and burdens of life itself, but also of rape, but beginning at the beginning by raping yong boys in front of their parents in order to compell the parents who knew nothing about 9/11 or terrorism to confess to everything they knew about 9/11 and terrorism.
The Republican Party hasn't been the Republican Party since the moment Abraham Lincoln died. It has been a compromise with Jim Crow and lynching, only to become, under Nixon, the open door to all the racists pouring out of the pro-civil rights Democratic Party.
Quite an irony: the Democratic Party lost the Civil War, so had no constituency but the disposessed, then became the party of the dispossessed and disenfranchised. And now the party of non-Lincoln is using all the latest technologies and euphemisms in somewhat successful effort to eliminate civil rights protections and restore Jim Crow.
And that latter effort by the Republican Party has been going on since long before Nixon: McCarthy was not a Democrat.
May 14, 2008 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Quote: Is there something positive in the fact that Saddam Hussein was "captured" -- especially as it was done based upon a multi-facted lie: that the Republican party actually opposed what he was and did?" / End Quote
No, there was nothing positive in any of it. I realize that now. That's why I am now a proud, left-leaning Democrat.
No offense, but the rest of your post is lost on me. But I still appreciate your anger.
May 14, 2008 11:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
LisB,
Welcome to our party. I don't care what you did in the past, just stick with us.
May 15, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
JNagarya:
You will need to review some history if you want to be credible.
The Dems ran a very credible candidate in 1864: McClellan. Lincoln himself said he owed his reelection to Sherman's successful taking of Atlanta.
Had the war gone badly, the Dems probably would have won as by 1864 the North was sick of the war.
The Dems had split their party in 1860 along regional lines because of slavery -- in fact, this is why Lincoln had a shot.
After the war, the only major party left in the south was the Dems (the Whigs had imploded during the 1850s leaving factional parties like the Know-Nothings and others).
The rest of your post is full of gobble-dee-gook and is difficult to make sense of.
Trying reading the first 20% or so of BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM by James McPherson. It will help lay a historic foundation for you and help you stay away from impotently expressed anger.
May 15, 2008 1:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I appreciate the honesty, and it's fascinating to hear about the experiences of a former Bush voter.
People who are taking this occasion to berate Elisabeth about the past 8 years might want to check their blood pressure, and/or go argue on a right-wing blog. Lis has already conceded that it was the wrong choice. But she's quite right about the way to generate power in the American political system: power comes from holding together a coalition. Our side can only do that if we remember that we're voting for the coalition, not just for an individual.
May 14, 2008 10:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, Alex. Thank you very much.
May 14, 2008 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
LisB you were a republican after 1994?
The hell you say...lol......I would have never guessed that, seriously.
What am I talking about...I didnt even follow politics too closely...I just knew I wasnt rich, and always argued with republicans...:)
May 14, 2008 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry to say, Sean, I was a Republican at birth.
I did like Ross Perot, though. He made me sit back and think, think hard, about our economy and our inner-workings. He made me realize that there's more to American than just two parties.
I owe Ross Perot a lot, actually. He helped get me ready for Obama.
Maybe it's the big ears?
May 14, 2008 11:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Theres that spirit again......:)
Thats coo Lisb...Im glad you didnt take offense, I was just comming back in here to say that....:)
May 14, 2008 11:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can I just add that U2's lyrics to "One Love" sum up everything I wanted to get across to you all here tonight?
I even love Bev and Otto and Louisville.
May 14, 2008 11:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great story, great moral, Lis. Hope you can bring your sister out for Obama in November, too!
May 14, 2008 11:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
She is THIS close. I have months to go. I'm feeling optimistic.
May 15, 2008 12:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
I know she's in good hands ;)
May 15, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
So I'm coming in late here, Lis, but I gather you have come over from the dark side? Do not fight assimilation, sister, merge with the one!
But seriously, one thing I have learned in the past couple of years, bitter old red that I am, is how many damn good people there are on the other side, good hearted and well meaning and wanting many of the same things I do. I think where we lost the republic is the point where those kind of Republicans got driven out of their party by the expletive deleteds.
Let's unite and take our country back. Then we can argue about the details.
Welcome home, Lis.
May 15, 2008 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
picaroon....I'm not about sides anymore. I'm about America. Our country. OURS. Our country. Yours and mine. Our people. PEOPLE. You and me. Us. US.
I learned how to merge in Driver's Ed class. I just didn't realize how important it was until I jumped onto the freeway for the first time.
More notes before I go to bed.
I spelled disdain wrong, in my original post. Microsoft Word did not pick up this error. Now I'm wondering if "distain" is a word. And if it is, was it just recently added to Webster's by the company that owns Tide?
I responded incorrectly to JNagarya's second comment -- like, TOTALLY. All I saw was FLORIDA in all caps and I went off like a screaming banshee about "why Obama supporters won't recognize the Michigan and Florida numbers" without reading JNagarya's post. But, not that I've read it four times, I can still honestly say that most if it still goes over my head. YES! I'm angry and I'm ashamed that I was a Republican and YES! I'm hoping that someday being a Republican or a Democrat won't FREAKING MATTER ANYMORE! What in the hell is wrong with PURPLE states, and VARIOUS voters of every shape, sex, creed, religion?!!?
(Sigh)
Okay, I'm going to bed now. Thanks to everybody who recommended my post from last night, and this one too. You sure do know how to make a girl feel welcome in these here parts!
xoxo,
Lis
May 15, 2008 1:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
In my era, we did sometimes spell it "distain."
May 15, 2008 7:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
The funny thing is, six years ago (when I first moved to the US from Canada), I would have felt completely alienated by this kind of language, because the people using it were mostly xenophobic conservatives. The "American values" they talked about didn't speak to me at all.
But this year, the idealism and energy of the Obama campaign are really bringing out the old-fashioned democratic American values -- the inspiring kind. When I feel the passion of so many Americans who are working for America to live up to its noble ideals these past few months, I've felt for the first time like I'm part of this polity. Combined with the California same-sex marriage decision, all this good news is helping me really identify with American values. I feel like I will be proud to become an American.
May 15, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great post, and thanks for your honesty.
May 15, 2008 1:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
LisB:
No way can I back the notion of "vote party" as you know from my other posts here. The experience of 2000 (McCain vs. Bush) should show you the problems with that.
I have no problems whatsoever with Hillary backers deciding to vote for McCain, writing in Hillary, voting for Nader, etc. if they do it out of conviction and reasoned thinking.
I have no respect for people who do that if they do it out of bitterness.
However, on TPM we will hear from a vocal dwindling minority of drama queens threatening this or that if they don't have their asses kissed to their liking. Remember all the people (especially Hollywood stars) who claimed they would leave the country if Bush took office? How many of them look foolish for not following through?
Let's be honest: I'd rather move on to convincing people regardless of party affiliation to vote for Obama -- but if they don't, well, that's the beauty of our system.
I am impressed you admitted to voting for Bush. I don't think that cutting off my nose would have allowed me to do that regardless of familial pressure!
May 15, 2008 1:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
One of the great differences between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans tend to place Party before all else. Party before country. Party before principle. Party before integrity. Party before the truth. Which is why the Republicans can support an incompetent, lying piece of shit like George W. Bush and send him to the White House for two terms. He may be a lying sack of shit, but he's our lying sack of shit. That's the Republican way. The pack mentality is what gives them power.
Not so with Democrats. We tend to place our own values and principles ahead of the Party, and if we and the Party disagree, the Party loses. We go off and vote for Ralph Nader and spend the next four years complaining about what an idiot George W. Bush is. Our idealism, while theoretically admirable, isn't worth a damn in the real, pragmatic world of American politics.
This year is different. This year we have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Republicans. Perhaps this year, for once, we'll set aside our personal goals and biases and remember that the Party is us. It's us banding together to shove the Republicans out the door and put people like us--people who value principle over Party--into Congress and into the White House. Maybe this year we'll hang together long enough to actually pull this thing off.
May 15, 2008 7:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hope so.
Nice comment to a nice post by Lis.
I'm feeling hopeful. Yay!
May 15, 2008 8:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm feeling hopeful too. I've been waiting for this election season for a long, long time. The stars are in alignment. The Universe holds its breath in anticipation...
May 15, 2008 8:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, the terrible revelations of LisB's dark past...
Great post actually. Thanks for writing this, LisB. It drives home the point that people aren't party supporters for life, and that voting for the other party does not automatically make folks sworn enemies and crazed lunatics.
May 15, 2008 8:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lis B:
Thanks for "coming clean" here. All is forgiven. You've seen the light! The ability to change is a wonderful thing!
I think some of the people that were taken in by the repubs, once they see the light, become even more angry, more desirous of change, because of the degree to which they were hoodwinked before.
Posts like yours change minds of some who are open.
Bravo! And thanks!
♪♪♪
May 15, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, everbody. What great comments!
I kept thinking, last night, after I logged off and went to bed, how ironic it is that I'm now voting against the man I voted for in 2000.
I don't think I'm the only one who changed. McCain is not the man he was back then. He's pandered to the right and lost everything that made him a "maverick". Sad, really.
I can't wait to vote for Barack in November.
May 15, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
(pops in)
(winks at LisB)
(smiles at her response to BevD)
(pops out)
May 15, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
me too!
May 15, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
BevD: Is that snark really in response to LisB's post? I hope not - this is a great post! Thoughtful and refreshing.
My family are mostly Republicans with reason - there is no excuse for any Democrat to be baffled at that idea.
Each party reflects at the core certain American values which can nevertheless become corrupted. Self-reliance, strength, and honor 'on the right', Compassion, intellect, and personal freedom 'on the 'left'.
It just so happens the latter values are the ones America needs most to revive at this moment in time.
May 15, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I always thought it was, Left: Complacency, silence, assimilation and Right: Repression, cutthroat profiteering, genocide, racism.
May 15, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Elisabeth, for your honest accounting of how you got where you are. People tend to align with the party of their parents, and loyalties are hard to turn your back on. As I get older, though, I've come to realize that when something something smells, pay attention. It could mean fire, spoiled food, a dirty diaper, a dead animal in the attic, etc... So, holding your nose can be a bad thing. I said in a previous post that I could not hold my nose and vote for HRC for the sake of the party because I thought the party had gone off track...that I would write in Obama. I am very happy I will not have to make that choice. I am sure it was not an easy one for you in 2000. But, to thine own nose be true!
May 15, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
LisB,
I have family members I would love to convert too. I have a brother who is disgusted with the Republican Party but continues with his bad habits like watching Fox News, reading the Drudge Report, etc. I keep pointing out how Obama's the best choice right now for conservatives, too. I hope to have him persuaded in time for the general election.
Good luck with your family.
May 15, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, Laura. I wish you luck with your brother too.
A personal aside: In 2006 I was miraculously reunited with three sisters I haven't seen since I was 5 years old (from my father's second marriage). All of them, and their mom, are liberal.
May 15, 2008 7:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
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