I Am a Recovering Pro-Choice Liberal Democrat

I turned 18 in 1978 and honestly I can’t remember what election year was my first time to vote. I can tell you that when I did begin to vote it was for Democrats. Why was that? I’m not sure other than my parents were generally politically uninformed, so that carried over I suppose. If asked what party I align myself with I would have told you (with nose raised in the air) that I don’t (didn't) vote along party lines, I “vote for the person not the party”. When in reality if you looked at the actual “persons” I voted for…they were all Democrats.

In 1999 the presidential campaign was well underway and the leading Democrats in the race were Al Gore and Howard Dean. I started souring on Dean because he seemed extraordinarily arrogant, so Gore was my man. Time for Confession: If you had asked me why I liked Al Gore over all other candidates and including why I thought he was better that George Bush, I would have answered because I thought he was smarter. Yup, that was my reason for voting for Al Gore. There was no substance behind my choice, I didn't choose because I determined what issues were most important to me. Nope, I liked him because he was “smarter”. Not my proudest moment.

I voted for Gore in that election and, well, Bush became President after a historic set of events in Florida. You remember the hanging chads and all. But this was my political involvement. Basically to not know anything about real issues and then vote Democrat. But, I also have to say that even though I was completely uniformed I did have opinions; most importantly an opinion on abortion. I was completely pro-choice and was one of those people who would say "Well I would never suggest a women should get an abortion, but who am I to tell another person what they can or cannot do with their body."

In late 1999 and early 2000 I was struggling in life, and while this is not the topic of this post, I have to say I had a spiritual awakening and committed my life to Jesus Christ in February of 2000. After that conversion I began questioning my thoughts and actions, and asking "who am I?"

Then in 2002 came the Governor’s race in Massachusetts, where I was living at the time. It was Mitt Romney on the Republican ticket and State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien on the Democrat ticket. Now 42 years old I decided for the first time to actually pay attention to what the issues were and decide on a candidate who best matches what I most strongly believe in. What I found was a Democratic candidate that didn't care to have a substantive debate. She had an attitude that oozed elitism and well, made me want to take a shower after hearing her speak. The attitude that came across from Ms. O'Brien was if you align with my thoughts you are a progressive thinker, and if you disagree with me I will simply tear you down while never actually debating you on the merits of my position. I didn't like it at all. I actually hadn't made up my mind until the very last debate they had. Mitt Romney gave clear and concise answers to why he stands where he stands on the issues. Ms. O'Brien was a condescending, nasty person who had no clue what she was about. The final straw for me was when the topic of abortion came up. Mr. Romney stated he was pro-life, but honestly stated that since the Massachusetts state house is a vast majority Democrat, he was not planning on attempting to challenge current law in Massachusetts. Ms. O'Brien on the other hand stated she did want to change to current abortion laws to make them easier to get an abortion at anytime during pregnancy and for any reason, INCLUDING for minors WITHOUT parental consent. It was like a dagger in my heart. Was this what I was supporting all those years?

I voted for Mitt Romney. And I did so on the issues.

In every election since then I have voted for pro-life candidates because I have seen that liberals have taken on a personality of arrogant elitism, and has continued to move more and more left so that they cease to recognize any standard of what is right and wrong. All is permissible and if you give us your money we’ll make it happen for you. Thanks, but no thanks.

I am so glad that I started paying attention. One last word; many so-called republicans want us to move more to the left as a way to achieve better election results. Thanks, but no thanks.

I was reading an article about the malicious attacks made on the character of Miss California Carrie Prejean by the self-righteous liberals and a really good point was made that goes along with my conversion from liberal to conservative. Here is the quote from an Anne Coulter article that describes exactly where I came from (liberal view of religion) and actually becoming a Christian:

Christians aren't people who believe they are without sin; they're people who know they're sinners and are awestruck by God's grace in sending his only Son to take the punishment they deserve. This is in contradistinction to liberals, all of whom believe they're on a fast track to heaven on the basis of being "basically good" people -- and also believe that anyone who disagrees with that theological view is evil.