Who am I?

Well I looked back since when I first started taking this quiz to gauge where I fall in the political spectrum. Things certainly have changed.

Politically, I grew up a Republican. That's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere, a.k.a. North Central Ohio. I grew up in the country just south of Mansfield, OH, went to a "small town" high school. We had, I think maybe 3 black people? And that's our entire school, not just the high school. I graduated from a class of 121, just to give some perspective. So living in that sort of area, and in that sort of lifestyle, one tends to have a more conservative view. That being said, I would probably have been considered a moderate Republican.

I come from a huge family of Republicans; my mom is a moderate Republican, my dad a more traditionally conservative Republican. In our immediate family (parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles) there are only 3 actively non-Republicans. My one aunt is quite liberal (she went to school in a Big City and joined the Peace Corps when she was younger), and the other is pretty independent. It's nice to have at least a couple people I can talk to about stuff, when at family gatherings. It always seems to be a little harrowing, when attempting to discuss politics with some of my family members.

Don't get me wrong, I love them to death, but most of my family are hardcore Republicans. Anyways, that's the environment I grew up in. Towards the end of high school, however I became a Libertarian. Yes the big L because I actually joined the party and paid my dues. Have the card around here somewhere... I imagine at some point I was always a libertarian (yes small L, there is a difference!) at least a little bit, but one of my best friends Andy is the one that showed me the light. Too bad for him, 6 years later I became a registered Democrat.

If I had to label myself I would refer to myself as a moderate liberal with libertarian tendencies... but still a registered Democrat. I joined the Party because of Howard Dean, in 2002. My reason was because he was the best chance of getting a libertarian in the White House in 2004. I still contend if we had run Dean instead of Kerry, we would have won. But I digress. The Iraq War is an important topic to me, and quite sensitive to those that follow partisan politics. Whenever we had a discussion about the War at family functions, I always never spoke out. Keep in mind, at that time, it was very unpopular to not support the War or our president. Lucky for folks like me, time has changed for us in that regards.

So currently I am a moderate liberal Democrat (with some libertarian-leaning tendencies on issues). I currently support Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nominee for the 2008 presidential election. This is mainly because of a book called The Case for Hillary Clinton, by Susan Estrich. Please be careful, as there is (of course) a book called The Case Against Hillary Clinton; I will not dignify it with a link of it's own :)

Prior to that, I had no idea who I would support in the primary election. At that point, John Edwards had thrown in his hat again, and of course Dennis Kucinich was back. Now I will support whomever the Democratic nominee is in the end, and would probably vote for them as well, but there are only a few candidates out there I would actively campaign for. Once I read Ms. Estrich's book, well I knew Clinton was the candidate for me to support in the primary, let alone the general election.

I just took a quiz here, and it shows Clinton as my number one choice, which I'm glad. There are a few reasons why I support her, and not just because of nostalgia for the Clinton Years, nor simply because she is a woman. I like her positions. Not every position, but I'm not going to agree with my candidate 100% on everything; Dean is the only one that's come close, but I think there were even a few issues where we disagreed. Now it looks like it's going to be Obama or Clinton; either I will campaign for in the end.

Some are asking for a Dream Ticket, with both Clinton and Obama. The only way that would work is Clinton-Obama, and I'm not just saying that because I support her. The reasons are two-fold: 1. Clinton is no spring chicken. She can't be a vice president now and wait for 8 years to run again. It's now or never. And 2. Obama would not be able to stand her as his Number 2; she likes the spotlight, and no one wants the second place spot to outshine the first. Obama is still quite young, and after 8 years of Clintonian bliss (one can hope right?) he can run again, and win quite easily.

When it comes down to who can win against John McCain (at this moment he is THE Republican nominee), either can, and either would. The question is how close would it be? Well, that remains to be seen. But there will be a Democrat in the White House, come January 21, 2009; we just have to see which it will be. Unless Obama wins Pennsylvania (which is looking less and less a likely event), it will come down to the super delegates at the Convention in August.

My next post will talk about my views on the big issues of the day.