Convert the Republicans You Love

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years."  -Mark Twain

My father was a Republican.  There I said it.  Shameful but true.  The man voted for Nixon and Reagan twice each and was proud to tell the world about it.  He told me when I was 8 years old that Ronald Reagan would "save the world."  It hurts to even type that.  At 8, he had me convinced.  My Dad was a hero to me and would NEVER tell me anything that was untrue.  Wrong.

I never thought I'd change my Dad's mind about anything, least of all politics.  He had never even considered voting for anyone who wasn't a Republican.  By the time I was 16 and had more experience to draw on, I became a Democrat like my Mom.  He dubbed me his "pinko, commie, pablum-puking, bleeding-heart liberal daughter" who knew that my mother brainwashed me and condemned me to a life of hand-wringing, whining, and a protest arrest sheet.  I countered by telling him that "I'd rather have a bleeding heart than no heart at all" and that he, along with the Republican party, couldn't possibly care about their fellow Americans when they were so busy being concerned only with themselves.  Ouch.  We took each other's criticism and jibes as best we could but never stopped debating the state of our Union.

I was shocked to learn that my father voted for Bill Clinton in 1992.  That was the first presidential election I voted in and knew that I was one of the people that helped turn the tide.  Clinton would change our nation for the better and I was proud to vote for him.  Still glad that I did.  When my Dad confessed that he'd voted for Clinton too, I realized something:  it IS possible to change people's minds, even the most conservative, dug-in Republicans out there like my Dad.  I asked him what changed his mind and he told me that it was our conversations and arguments.  My reason and passion won him over.  I was able to prove to him that, after 12 years of Republican presidents, our country couldn't take much more and Clinton was the fresh air that American needed.  

We need to rally our Republican friends and family members who are ready for the next breath of fresh air.  It is possible to change their minds.  We need them now because this election is so important.  Our nation is hanging precariously in the balance and we need to tip the scales and let Obama and Biden do their jobs as President and Vice-President.  Reason, passion, and truth.  These are the best weapons in our arsenal.