Dad, Politics, and Me

In every free and deliberating society, there must, from the nature of man, be opposite parties, and violent dissensions and discords; and one of these, for the most part, must prevail over the other for a longer or shorter time.
Thomas Jefferson

It was early November, 1964, the weekend before the Election Day that would decide the Goldwater-Johnson presidential race. Dad has been a Conservative Republican his entire life, and for years was active in the Conservative Party, helping out local, state, and national candidates. JFK had been assassinated the year before, and I was 8 years old. Of course Dad was supporting Goldwater. Personally, I remember telling him that I thought HE would make the best president of all. However, if Daddy thought Goldwater was the man, then so did I.

Imagine the cold, gray drizzle of mid-autumn, the kind that seems to seep into your bones and chill you all the way through. The kind of day where the sky feels low and is the exact color of gunmetal. The leaves that have fallen have been raked into what were once piles for diving into; now they are slimy and icky and slippery. A boring Saturday between Halloween and Thanksgiving, with nothing to do but watch cartoons and read Nancy Drew, until Daddy asked me to go campaining with him. We climbed into the car (I can't for the life of me remember what kind of car it was) and set out on our mission. We were going to get old AuH2O elected President of the United States!

Sounds like a thrill a minute, I know. It actually was, for a while, because I was with my father and we were being politically active. However, as Dad drove the car, I was to run up to houses and stuff the mailbox with Goldwater campaign leaflets. Slogging my little self through that cold drizzly rain managed to thoroughly snuff out my Conservative zeal in no time. I was cold, it was boring, I wanted to go home. Dad, of course, had no intention of returning home until every pamphlet and leaflet was gone.

I jokingly blame Dad, and that rainy November day, for my liberal political leanings. In reality, I am proud that my father taught me early on to be a concerned, aware, and active citizen of this wonderful country of ours. I have voted in every election since the year I turned 18, and plan on doing so until I'm no longer able to, for whatever reason. I have virtually never agreed with my parents' politics, nor they with mine, but that is what makes this nation great: a place for everyone to voice their opinion, and to vote their conscience. Thanks for that, Dad.