Part VII

Part VI

Part V

Part IV

Part III

Part II

Part I
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What Next? (1999-2000):

Sometime in mid-1999 – I think it was the summertime – I was casually talking to Mrs. Gandalf about politics (one of those extremely rare occasions). Nothing too complicated, just something along the lines of speculation as to who would be running for President in 2000. Now at the time, I knew Gore would run. I’m not sure if Bradley had announced at that point yet. As for the Republicans, I had only seen brief sound bites from debates on the news.

Bush, for the most part, was a complete unknown to me – as he was with much of the rest of the country. There wasn’t anything I disliked about him, nor was there anything I particularly cared for. About all I knew of Bush was that he was Bush 41’s eldest son, the Governor of Texas, and when asked which philosopher he was most influenced by, he answered “Jesus Christ. Because He changed my heart.” And that’s about it. But although I new little OF him at that point I was able to gather that he was a pretty amiable and likable guy. However, I do remember saying to the wife that – at that very early date – I was confident enough to predict that Bush would most likely be the next President. In retrospect, I’m not exactly sure why. It could be that my old college roommate had moved to Texas and he always raved about what a fantastic Governor he was. But being a political junkie, it wasn’t crazy for me to make a call that early in the process.

I know from reading a lot about the Â’88 and Â’92 campaigns that W was kind of the black sheep of the family and he was a big help to his father during that time. In fact, as it is so often pointed out, George wasnÂ’t expected to be the successful on in politics. All eyes at the time were on his younger brother Jeb. I was attending an offsite seminar for my job during the off-year 1994 elections. There was a guy in my group from Florida and he was a big Jeb supporter. As the returns come in, he was really disappointed that his guy had lost out to Lawton Chiles for Florida Governor. The big surprise was George W. winning in Texas. I didnÂ’t even know at the time that he was running.

For the first time since 1988, I was fully prepared not to vote in a Presidential election. There was no sense of anticipation or excitement. Nothing. I was also fully in the midst of the final stretch of getting my MBA so there wasnÂ’t a lot of time anyway. Having left the Democrat party, I didnÂ’t really have a horse in the race, so to speak. By the time January 2000 came about, Bush was pretty much seen as the front-runner and the only other candidate that seemed to have a shot at the nomination was AZ Senator John McCain. And it is because of McCain that I am a Republican today.

McCain ran as a Reagan devotee and didn’t shy away from his conservative credentials. I admit he seems to do this more and more of just that today. I actually got excited about McCain because of his energy, enthusiasm and passion. Plus, I admit, I liked his story. He was a former POW, strong on defense and had a “straight talk” approach on the campaign trail. I first began to follow McCain closely after he upset Bush in the New Hampshire primary. Of course, so had the media. They were following him around on his tour bus, like a pack of over-excited puppies. And, admittedly, it was his candor and straight-forwardness that piqued my interest. And I began to listen…

He began going after Clinton-Gore by talking about conservative ideas. I was really fascinated. I listened to him on radio shows like Imus in the Morning and television shows, anyone that broadcast him – which was pretty much everyone at that point. Suddenly, a guy that seemed a long-shot for the Republican nomination seemed to have the momentum. Of course, the party establishment who had a lot invested in Bush’s candidacy – both literally and figuratively – was not about to throw in the towel. It became a real fight.

Now, on the Democrat side, neither Gore nor Bradley interested me at all. To me, Al Gore has always been a phony. This was a man who had been running for President since he was a child, prodded on by the ghost of his father, TN Senator Al Gore, Sr. Gore was quoted as saying “He (Bush) can lose and he’ll just go back to Texas. But me? I’ll do anything to be President.” But McCain seemed to me to be the real deal. I read his biography, watched his speeches and even attended a local rally for him during just before the CT primary.

Now in Connecticut, the State GOP requires that only registered Republicans can vote in the primary. I personally agree with this requirement. Many States had open primaries but the argument against this is that anyone – including registered Democrats could influence the party’s nominee. Frankly, this is how McCain managed to win New Hampshire and several other primaries. Supporters argued that he appealed to a broader base – which was certainly true in my case – but on the other hand I don’t think it’s right that anyone other than party members should make this decision. If non-Republicans want to vote in the primary, let them register.

Which is exactly what I did. A pretty bold move for me.

On primary day, I gleefully voted for McCain and waited for the results to come in. In a nutshell, McCain won about a third of the primaries that day, mostly in the Northeast and West. But the delegate tally of that day, which was called ‘Super Tuesday’ because of the number of primaries, vaulted Bush well into the lead. It was all but over for McCain. The next step for the Senator over the next couple of weeks was to concede the rest and throw his support to Bush in a gesture of party unity. For several weeks, I was a little bitter. I knew the chances were slim but I held out hope. Then those hopes were dashed. Well, I’d been there before and over the years my skin had thickened. Now I had spent the last two months being so anti-Gore that voting for him was simply out of the question. My position now was to vote for Bush – by default – or just not to vote at all. Frankly, the latter choice was more abhorrent to me than registering with a party that I had always viewed as ‘the enemy’.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a great stump speech he calls “Then you are a Republican.” He had the opportunity to showcase it in prime time at the 2004 GOP convention. It basically says if you stand for this or if you believe in that…then YOU are a Republican. That’s how I felt during this time. It’s like I finally understood that I had been supporting something I didn’t really believe in all these years simply because it’s what I grew up with. This was the “Great Awakening” that I experienced at this time. When I went down to the registrar’s office in my town and officially registered as a Republican, it really felt right. (no pun intended). (To be continued…)

Part IX

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