Converted another Republican today...

[Mother Of Four]

Not all the way over to Dem, but into the Independent standard.

I have to say, this is the best yet :)

She is an 18 yr old friend of my sons, her and a bunch of his other friends came over and helped with yard work.

We were sitting at the table, taking a break and she started asking me how I felt about politics. I've had alot of these conversations recently so I turned it around on her, I stated "Well, I'm not sure how to explain it...why don't you start first?"

She started talking about Huckabee, I just nodded and smiled. She talked about McCain and how she would never vote for him because he's "Just a terrible man, he let that woman call Hillary a B*tch without saying anything. How disrespectful!"

She stated that she would never in a million years vote for Hillary, that she saw her mocking her opponents with celestial choirs and thought she wasn't 60, but more like 6 years old.

I asked her why Huckabee? She told me how charming he was, even used the term affable. I said "Well, yes he's a fantastic speaker but honey...did you know" and talked to her about Huckabee's pardon of the Serial Rapist http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/04/documents-expose-huckabee_n_75362.html

Her eyes got very large and she said she hadn't heard anything about it.

She looked dumbstruck.

I then went on to ask her how she felt about a girl we both know, who is L. She said she liked hanging out with her, and that she was funny and sweet.

I told her about this http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/12/huckabees_views_on_gays_under_greater_scrutiny/

(SNIP- This is the talking point I used)

"WASHINGTON - Shortly before announcing his White House bid, Mike Huckabee told a gathering of Christian conservatives that he had the toughest position against gay marriage of any Republican candidate. "Unless Moses comes down with two stone tablets from Brokeback Mountain to tell us something different, we need to keep that understanding of marriage," Huckabee said, referring to the movie about two gay cowboys.

Now, as Huckabee seeks to solidify his front-runner status in Iowa and his climb in national polls, the former Arkansas governor is coming under greater scrutiny for his views about gays and lesbians. He has sought to defend comments he made in 1992 that gays lived "an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle" and that gays with AIDS should be isolated, even though the federal government by that time had said AIDS was not spread by casual contact."

(END SNIP)

She was horrified.

See, I personally believe many people are a party follower because that's how they are raised. Many times their personal beliefs really don't reflect what they profess. I talked to her about that too, and the other girl at the table was nodding along.

The other girl, said "You know I'm a Republican too...but I can't see myself voting for either McCain or Huckabee." She then went on to talk about HRC, and the "Personality flips" she's done over the last week. How she hated the fact that her brother was in Iraq for the second time, and hadn't even seen his new baby.

I gently introduced Obama, I would have rather introduced Edwards (sigh) but that's neither here or there.

Both of them had similar reactions "He's great...but he'll get killed" then started spouting off things like "Well, he's WAY too liberal for me" etc.

So I asked them what was wrong with being a little liberal?

Gay rights are considered liberal- What about their friend (girls name)?
They couldn't answer, just looked surprised.
You want the war to end correct? They both were adamant about that, I reminded them that it's liberals and progressives that are leading that wave for the soldiers to come home.
I drank my coffee at that point, and let them talk together. It was amazing how they dissected the candidates, points they knew and hashed over.

The second girl said "You know, I can see myself voting for Obama but I can't ever see myself being a Democrat." The first girl nodded and got very quiet.

It hurt me a little to see what happened next, because she choked up a little. She said that she didn't know where she stood now. The second girl agreed. I told her "You know, Independent means you're not a part of any one political party. It means you have your own beliefs and your own way of looking at things." I went on to tell her that she didn't have to support things she didn't believe in, that it was more important now than ever to vote her conscience.

She said then "If I vote my conscience, then we have to have a Democrat in the whitehouse...The Republicans have messed things up big time."


General consensus is: Looking very good for two more entrants into the Indy field that are going to vote Dem this year :)

[Yael]

1. Nice story -- thanks for sharing

Rec

[babylonsister]

2. You did great! You made the girls think, and that's always a step

in the right direction. :thumbsup:

[Mother Of Four]

5. Thanks :)

[housewolf]

3. You're an angel...

with a wonderful way of communicating with young people.

Bless you, and thanks for sharing the story.

[Mother Of Four]

6. ...

:hug:

[babylonsister]

4. .

[casus belli]

7. Kids never cease to surprise me...

there's a lot of intellect hiding beneath the surface if you can break through some of the "programming". The one thing they don't respond to is being told how they should think, so letting them arrive at their own conclusions is paramount.

Well done, btw.

[maseman]

8. Great story.

One problem with today's "politics" is that we have made it a spectator sport. Our "team" versus their team. No one likes to lose. We become almost robots in our supporting someone for office. The media has a big part of the blame for this.

Look at the people who voted for Bush. Nearly every part of his campaigns in 2000 and 2004 were false advertising. The marketing machine for Shrubby was amazing. But it was just that. Marketing. No substance.

My wife grew up a very religious person, a Menonnite. Fundy parents and the whole thing. We have been married five years. She now doesn't vote for any Republicans. After a college education and becoming an inner city teacher she has really seen the "other" side. People can be changed but they need to see clearly the people they are voting for.