My Journey to Progressivism, Part 1: In the Beginning...

Before I continue on too much farther with this blog, I think it's important to take a moment and establish where I'm coming from.  How did I find myself in the progressive camp?  Those who have known me for many years know that I haven't always been liberally minded.  My journey leftward occurred over several years, and examining it reveals much in how I view the world and why I believe my goal of spreading progressive ideas to rural Americans is not only important but achievable.

My political awakening occurred around 1994 when I was in about 7th grade.  Before that I was probably more interested in politics than the average kid (I was a nerd after all), but I really started to develop political ideas in the Clinton years.  At the time we lived in Hays, Kansas, a town of about 18,000 on the High Plains of western Kansas - the largest town in about a 90 mile radius.  Kansas was dominated then by moderate Republicans.  Our senators were Bob Dole (from Russell, 30 miles east of Hays), and Nancy Kassebaum.  We had our first female Democrat governor, Joan Finney, who was replaced in November 1994 by moderate Republican Bill Graves.  Movement conservatism was rapidly growing in power in the state, however, especially in the aftermath of the 1991 Summer of Mercy abortion protests in Wichita.

It was in this climate that I was introduced to Rush Limbaugh.  I read his two books.  When I was home I watched his short-lived TV show; on road trips I would sometimes tune in to his radio show.  His ideas made a lot of sense to me.  When he talked about government punishing achievement, I listened as though government wanted to punish me, a young go-getter!  Why should I pay high taxes?  Why should I do anything to help other people?  Out there on the Plains, we didn't need any federal government intervention. Some programs were ok, but socialized health care?  Affirmative action?  No thanks.  I became a libertarian-leaning conservative, and proud of it.  I believed everything lobbed at President Clinton.  (I'm sorry, Bill.  In retrospect, you're cool.)

I never became incredibly hardcore, however.  Now lest you think I'm ret-conning my past (changing it to suit the present), hear me out.  When Bob Dole became the Republican presidential nominee in 1996, I supported him enthusiastically, more so than Rush.  My favorite Republicans were always moderates like Dole and Colin Powell, whom I desperately wanted to run for President.  Something about the hardest right-wingers always put me off a bit.  This was especially true with regards to social conservatism, which I never fully bought into.  Here I think I can give some credit to my Catholic heritage; the militant evangelical Christianity I experienced both on a national level and in the small towns I lived in really turned me off.  I had a deep respect for other cultures since a young age, and turning a blind eye to their contributions with a simple "they're wrong and evil" had no place in my worldview.  I was especially conflicted during Clinton's impeachment; I was obviously not a Clinton fan, but impeaching him over a sex scandal seemed to fall short of "high crimes and misdemeanors."

Still, I remained a loyal "moderate" conservative.  Upon reaching voting age I registered as a Republican and proudly voted for George W. Bush the following year.  Concurrently I was getting my "blue state" education at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, the liberal bastion of the state.  I fully supported W during the 2000 election debacle, believing those dirty Democrats were trying to change the rules.  When the Supreme Court stopped the recount, I was excited.  Now the country would be governed by a "compassionate conservative" who would really turn things around (ugh, it pains me to type this).  Little did I know that the governance of the Bush administration, combined with my own personal life experiences, would eventually alter my political beliefs for good.  But that's a story for Part 2.