What in the world was I doing on an almost entirely liberal blog, I often wondered when I first arrived here.  I came due to an invitation from my daughter, LisB.  I had admired her writings for years and was curious what she was contributing here. Being a conservative

all of my life, I was not a happy camper when she announced at the beginning of Barack Obama's run for the White House that she had become a liberal. Her views were foreign to me and not very welcome.  I could not believe that this woman, who had wanted John McCain to win the nomination when running against W. for president, was

now firmly imbedded with the opposition.  I know I argued with her, trying to point out what I thought were astounding views on her part and terribly wrong in my eyes. 

Eventually, I grew to admire her strong support for Obama and her great interest in politics.  She seemed so knowledgeable about causes, world events and views that I almost felt uninformed and at a loss for good arguments defending my principles and well ingrained Republican talking points.  I continuously watched O'Reilly, Hannity and other Conservative thinkers, gleaning information to bolster my thinking and give me fodder against the Democrats.  I especially relished in the disclosures of Rev. Wright's sermons and Obama's close ties to his church.  It seemed to me this proved that he was un-American and had ultra liberals surrounding him.  I tied into the conservative press and their name calling, such as Fascist.

The notion of big government, high taxes and worsening of the economy was extremely abhorrent to me and I wanted Obama to fade away into the wood work.  However, he became the nominee for his party and I had to endure his acceptance speech and the hoopla that accompanied it.  Sheer staging and grandiose were my opinions at that time.  I saw the charisma of the man and the growing support and idolization.  I was envious of the attention from mass media and grew more and more attached to Fox News as the campaign continued.  There, I heard what I wanted to hear, or so I thought.

I can recall one argument I had with LisB regarding Palin.  I thought she was the wrong choice from the git go. I found her rather childish in her approach to the campaign and her family gave me nightmares.  With LisB, however, I was a loyal defender of McCain's pick for the vice presidency.  Looking back, I really was rather ashamed of myself for not being honest and agreeing with my daughter's assessment of her.  I think, at that time I became very disenchanted with McCain. I knew I would vote for him but not with any great enthusiasm.

Today - I am becoming more interested in what used to be "the other side" and the opinions stated here and in the news that I now follow.  I rarely watch TV but when I

put on the news, I put on Fox, Cnn and Msnbc to get all sides and then I can form my own opinion.  No longer am I willing to agree with ALL that the right or republican side put forth nor do I accept it as gospel.  I think I am in the "let's think about that a bit" faze and allowing my own feelings and beliefs to form my opinion and what I want to espouse to.

I wish to thank those who post such informative and well thought out blogs for me to use as a learning tool.  The chat room people have been so patient and helpful as I

grow and learn.   I have confidence in their guidance and understanding.  There are others here that have shared that they too, have changed their political thinking and I am grateful to them for showing me I am not alone.

In summation - I think I am still on the fence in many areas but I am tilting more and more to the left side.  I will register as an independent for the time being until I resolve some of the questions I still have regarding health care, the bail out of so many banks and companies, and the single pay issue which Obama seems to be against.  I will ask questions when I am not sure of facts, and I will do some major soul searching.  The one thing I do know is that it is okay, after so many years, to begin to grow and learn - it is never too late.