Today, I will be voting in the blowout victory of Republican candidate for governor Bob McDonnell, and it’s highly likely that I will be voting for pretty much the entire Republican ticket.
Only nine years ago, I voted for Al Gore and the straight Democratic ticket in New Jersey—line A all the way, as the slogan went. (Funny how even though the position of Line A was a coin flip, the Dems had Line A almost every single year I voted in NJ.)
The question is, who changed: Me, or them?
Well, I’ve changed. I have become more centrist, and less willing to part with my hard-earned dollars because a politician says he can spend my money better than I. I’m definitely tired of state-run charity programs for the perpetually unemployed. Or the state wanting to run my healthcare. (Or, for that matter, auto companies and banks.)
But there were two major turning points in my march towards the center. The first came on September 11, 2001. The second came in the bloody Israeli spring of 2002. That was when I realized that the left-leaning crowd that I ran with didn’t think that Israel had the right to use military means against the Palestinians to stop the terrorists. That was when I realized that the left-leaning crowd that I ran with were justifying Palestinian suicide attacks against Israelis by using the excuse that the Palestinians were oppressed. That was when I realized that the left-leaning crowd I ran with was full of anti-Semites who call themselves anti-Zionists.
They didn’t really change, though. Their thoughts on Israel were always there, just never in evidence, as it wasn’t an issue until Yasser Arafat waged his terror war after turning down the Clinton peace proposals. That was Israel’s fault too, of course. Just like many people thought that we brought 9/11 down on ourselves. I couldn’t stand that line of thought.
So I started frequenting the right-leaning blogs, because at least there, I found people who were willing to call a terrorist a terrorist, and who don’t think that Israel is to blame for all the world’s ills.
I was embraced by the right, even though I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m still pretty much a social liberal, and even though I am an avowed feminist. But I have more in common with Michelle Malkin these days than I do with Al Gore, and I do not agree with everything Michelle says. I don’t think she has a problem with my disagreement. The crew at Michelle’s and Hot Air have been linking my posts for years, and have given me access to The Green Room. My liberal blogger friends are mostly gone, still horrified that I’m a Zionist and that I voted for George W. Bush in 2004. And especially that I haven’t come back to the fold, and returned to voting Line A all the way.
Yeah, not gonna happen. I don’t want my taxes raised. I don’t want socialized healthcare. I don’t want more regulations. And I don’t want this nation turning into a nanny state. The status of the U.K., with its 24-hour surveillance cameras and lack of individual rights, horrifies me. You are not even allowed to defend yourself against an intruder in your home in Great Britain. A year and a half ago, watching the neighborhood I lived in go to seed, I bought a handgun for protection. I couldn’t do that I’d have to get a permit for it in New Jersey, but Virginia is a much more sensible state. No permit required.
I’ve gone against my New Jersey upbringing on about gun control, too. And I’ve moved toward the center on so many issues that I no longer consider myself a liberal. So let’s just say it’s Line B for me, unless the Dems have a revolution and move towards the center and give me reason to vote for them again.
I won’t be holding my breath.
Cross-posted on Hot Air.
