This morning I read an article written by my friend, J.P. Pendleton, called, “Whatever Happened to Civil Discourse?” He hit the nail right on the head about the problems with politics today when he wrote, “Voter turnout is low, general approval ratings for Congress are still in the toilet, and one of the bigger complaints you hear about election season is the negativism, the rancor, the breathless hyperbole, and the personal attacks. Sadly, the parties continue to sit in their respective glass houses and pitch stones at the other. And we wonder why political ‘outsiders’ don’t want to step in to the arena?”

It started me thinking about my political leanings throughout the years and how I feel about the political landscape today. So I decided to write about my journey from the left to the right and back to somewhere in the middle.

I used to be a Democrat.

Dad was a member of a Union and that’s just the way it was in our house. Maybe since I was pre-teen, I was brainwashed into believing that way. But life for me as a child in the 60s and 70s was good, so being a Democrat must have had something to do with it, right?

Dad would say “The Unions protect the working man.” I heard that slogan over and over. Dad would say the food on the table, the car in the driveway, etc., were there because of the Union. He was right. With Dad being a Union member, we always had food on the table and the “Union family” to count on for help even when Dad could not work because of his health. I’ve always had a soft spot for Unions. I have been a Union member and my wife is currently a Union member.

Interestingly, in 1968 Dad voted for a Republican named Richard Nixon. I think it was because Robert Kennedy was assassinated during the campaign and Dad liked him. He did not care too much for Hubert Humphrey.

The first campaign sign I ever made was one that had written on it, “Nixon is the One” and I believe this was one of Nixon’s slogans during the 1968 elections. We were traveling across Iowa that day on Interstate 80. I made the sign and stuck it in the corner of the front window and a few minutes after that, we exited I-80 to head south to Missouri and “BAM” we had a wreck when a lady in a 1968 Cadillac pulled out of a side road in front of us. Maybe this was the first hit for my political view?

I used to be a Republican.

It all started with Ronald Reagan around 1980. My first vote in a Presidential election was cast for Ronald Wilson Reagan. The United States seemed to be in the gutter late in the Carter years. Reagan put the spirit back in America and his love for the USA gave me hope. I have not seen or felt like that with any Presidential candidate since then. I joined the military because Reagan was a tough person and he gave people who were in the military pride. Reagan brought the Iranian hostages home. I joined the military when Reagan was elected and exited when Clinton was elected. As a person who was actually in the military when Clinton won the election, I can tell you first hand that about 90% of my fellow military personnel did not like him or the people he placed in his administration.

I am an Independent.

I have some conservative views and some liberal views. I probably have a few more conservative views than liberal. I really don’t agree with either party totally. I believe the politicians we have today are only worried about the next election. As I blogged before, “the only thing that matters in Washington DC is winning the next election.” It is the “scorched earth” policy. Fundraising is a year-round deal even for U.S. Senators who have six-year terms and that’s wrong. Most elected people are not the type of people who understand me and my issues meaning they are millionaires or close to it.

The political world today is killing off many potential candidates because when you announce your intention to run, there are people digging (press, political parties) into your past and finding a high school friend of 30 years ago who says he remembers you smoking pot and drinking beer at a party while partially naked with a cheerleader. Then you are tagged with it no matter how you answer. The higher the office the more scrutiny a candidate goes through. Both political parties do it. The first taste of it for me was in 1972, when it was revealed that Thomas Eagleton, who was going to be George McGovern’s running mate, had received electric shock treatment. I lived in Missouri back then and was excited that one of our guys could be Vice President. I hated the press then. I still dislike and distrust many reporters and their opinions today.

So what is the answer to this problem with politics?

The first thing we have to do as citizens of this great country is continue voting – we cannot give up because we are fed up. Another thing we can do is be respectful to the candidates and elected officials. It’s OK to point out, respectfully with no name calling, what you believe are lies and fabrications made by those elected and those running. It’s our duty to point out, respectfully, when politicians take credit for something they didn’t do anything for. Finally, we must encourage people to run for office so we have new ideas, new blood, and new faces and thank them for running even if we don’t agree with them. As mother use to tell me, “Jack, use your words, don’t use your fists.” She also told me to “be nice.” Those two rules are what I try to follow when I write in this blog about the candidates in 2008.