I Was Raised to Vote Republican

And this will be my 17th Presidential Election

At 88 years old, I’ve participated in a lot of Presidential elections; 16 of them them to be exact, but who’s counting? And if memory serves me correctly, I voted for a Republican in all of those elections … except one.

Don while serving in the Army in Northern Bavaria, Germany (1956)

It’s worth noting, that while I did vote for a Republican in 2016, that Republican was not Donald Trump. Instead, I wrote in my own Republican candidate. Then in 2020, after watching four years of the “The Trump Show”, I decided that protesting Trump via a write-in candidate was not enough, so I voted for Biden who appeared to be a decent man, even if I didn’t agree with all of his positions.

This November, I will vote for Kamala Harris. Again, I do not agree with all of her positions, but preserving democracy in the US is now my highest priority when I vote.

It may be worth mentioning that even though I was raised to vote Republican, as early as nine years old, I admired President Truman, a Democrat, for having the courage to end World War II with the atomic bomb. If we had needed to invade Japan, the American death toll would have been horrible. (And I know that threat was real, because my wife’s cousin was on a ship headed to invade Japan). I also admired President Eisenhower, a Republican, for staying cool during the Russian invasion of Hungary in 1956. I was serving in the Army at the time, and on standby to go to Hungary, while still not old enough to vote myself at age 20. After that, I liked Ford, Carter, Reagan and Obama, even if I didn’t vote for all of them. Basically, I am more interested in the person rather than the party.

Maybe you’re like me and have voted for Republicans in the past, but have had enough of Trump. If so, I encourage you to join me and cast your vote for the pro-democracy candidate, Kamala Harris. At the end of the day, preserving our democracy will ensure we can discuss all the other issues in future.

Post submitted by Don Calder, a volunteer with The Union who lives in Michigan.

Note: The views and opinions expressed by volunteer contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Union, a single-issue organization that welcomes all and is dedicated to protecting democracy.

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