I don't like how I feel

I can't recall actually becoming angry like this before. Not over an election.

I know I feel differently about this election than I have ever felt before. I actually felt it necessary for me to change my voter registration.

I was born into a family of Republicans. Heck, my mother voted for Eisenhower and then immediately went into labor. I was born at 11:04 pm on 11/04/1952. The same day Dwight was elected into office.

My parents are Republicans, both sets of my grandparents were Republicans.

But we were not an overtly political family. We didn't have political discussions around the dinner table. I don't recall my parents ever really talking about a presidential candidate as I was growing up.

When I turned18 and registered to vote, I registered as a Republican. I voted for Nixon in 1972. But I did all that because I was not really aware of the political process and I just registered Republican, because I had been born Republican.

But after that 1972 election, I started paying more attention to politics. I started to develop my own ideas about things instead of just going along with the flow. When 1976 came along, I voted for Ford over Carter. He turned out to be the last Republican I ever voted for for President. When 1980 rolled around, I had changed my registration to unaffiliated and I voted for John Anderson. Since then, my presidential vote has gone to the Democratic candidate. But I never felt the need to change my registration because I have voted for some Republicans in other races and never wanted to align myself with a particular party. I just didn't feel it was something I needed to do. Until now.

This year, for the first time in my life, I have registered as a Democrat.

I'm not sure why, but I think I need to make a statement. Maybe not a statement to anyone else, but certainly a statement to myself. This year, the stakes are just too high.

George Bush has got to go. He has squandered our military resources in this useless exercise in Iraq. He has sqaundered our good relations with most of the civilized world. He has not concentrated on destroying the real terrorists who threaten our country. He is damaging our economy that boasted a surplus when he came into office. He is destroying jobs. He is not working to improve health care. He is arrogant, and he has surrounded himself with people who do not have the best of interests of this country at heart.

I find myself actually hating the man. I can't help it, but that is the way I feel. And I have never felt this way before about a candidate for elective office.

Possibly my hate is developing because I see the momentum for his election growing and Kerry's diminishing. Maybe I'm just frustrated. I hope I can change how I feel, especially if Bush is re-elected, because it is no fun feeling this way.