(Introduction to the Series: Saving Democracy — A Citizen’s Guide for Every American)
If you’ve been reading my posts during the Trump years — especially throughout the 47th presidency — you might think I’m a lunatic lefty. Fair enough. But if you’ve known me longer, or are just meeting me now, allow me to re-introduce myself.
A Boy, a Convention, and an Idea
My first exposure to politics came in 1952, when I was seven years old. Back then, political conventions were real contests — not televised coronations. Eisenhower for the Republicans, Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver for the Democrats. I watched every minute of both conventions, fascinated by the speeches and the sense that something historic was happening.
I lived with my mother and grandparents at the time. Mom was a Democrat; my grandparents were Republicans. But in that house, I never heard an angry word about politics. I was encouraged to watch, listen, and think for myself. It was hard not to like Ike, and by the end of that summer, I was a Republican — at least in the heart and mind of a seven-year-old.
The Lesson That Stayed
Ten years later, in my high-school Problems of Democracy class, my teacher, Mr. Beatty, wasn’t exactly inspiring, but he did something rare: he taught us to think. Around that same time, Kennedy and Goldwater faced off, and I leaned slightly liberal, though I wasn’t old enough to vote.
In college, majoring in political science, I learned the single sentence that has guided my civic life ever since:
“Compromise is the essence of politics.”
Those five words shaped my understanding of what democracy requires — humility, patience, and cooperation.
Service, Disillusionment, and Re-evaluation
When I finally reached voting age, I registered Republican. It wasn’t loyalty as much as protest — I disagreed with how the U.S. was handling the Vietnam War, even while serving seven years, four months, and two days in the U.S. Air Force.
I stayed a Republican through the Nixon years, though uneasily. I believed in small government and limited regulation — until 2008, when unregulated greed nearly collapsed the economy. Watching Barack Obama and Joe Biden steady the nation’s financial system changed my mind. I realized that regulation, used wisely, protects freedom; it doesn’t erase it.
I’ve watched both parties evolve since then — some for the better, some not. Today’s Republicans, in my view, have surrendered to fear and flattery. Today’s Democrats are passionate but often scattered. I no longer belong entirely to either camp. Since 2016, I’ve been registered as decline to state.
The View from the Center
Now we find ourselves living under what I can only describe as a would-be authoritarian movement — one that demands loyalty over law, and outrage over order. The tragedy is that both major parties, in different ways, have lost their grounding.
I no longer see politics as a contest between right and left, but between those who believe in the rule of law and those who believe only in power.
The three essays that follow are my attempt to speak from every chapter of my own political journey — Republican, Democrat, and Independent — to show that the values we share are far greater than the slogans that divide us.
A Call to Readers
Most Americans are not all one thing or the other. You can be conservative and compassionate, progressive and prudent, skeptical and still hopeful. The key is to think — to listen, reason, and refuse the easy answers that divide us.
If we can recover the art of thinking, we might just recover the country.
I invite you to read the next three essays in this series, not as partisan arguments, but as reflections from a fellow citizen who has stood on all sides of the political street. To be published one at a time, this week.
Begin with Part I: The Republican Case — Restoring Constitutional Conservatism,
continue with Part II: The Democratic Case — Guarding Liberty Through Participation,
and conclude with Part III: The Independent Citizen — Restoring the Common Good.
Together, they form a single message:
One party’s victory will not decide America’s future, but by whether we the people still believe enough in democracy to defend it.