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                    </figure><p>I am a Democrat. I am a very blue Democrat. I am a very blue Democrat in a very red state, Kansas. I have a hard time making my vote count, but I don’t give up. I have not always been a Democrat. I have only been a registered Democrat since August 2020, but my conversion started before that. My real awakening started long before the first impeachment of Donald John Trump.<br><br>
The first election I was eligible to participate in was the August 1972 primary. I registered as a Republican at the same time I registered for my Selective Service card. I have never missed a primary or general election since. I did miss the draft. In all those years, I have only voted Democratic twice, and one of those was this past election. I’ll let you guess the other.<br><br>
I watched with rapt attention the Watergate hearings. I also followed closely the allegations surrounding Spiro Agnew, Nixon’s first Vice President. John Dean’s testimony, the Saturday Night Massacre, the secret White House tapes, the missing 13 minutes, all were captivating. The pressure placed on Agnew to resign or be charged with crimes; the members of the White House staff who were charged, tried, and found guilty. Then, the climactic act of members of Congress visiting the Oval Office and convincing Nixon that there was no saving his Presidency; that unless he resigned he would be impeached and he would be found guilty by the Senate. A corrupt administration was brought down.</p><p>I was very unhappy with the administration but I never once thought of leaving the party despite the dishonesty of the Nixon administration because I had developed a lot of admiration for the men who sat on the committees; Sam Irwin, Howard Baker, Daniel Inouye, (a WW II Medal of Honor winner of Japanese descent) to name but a few—statesmen from both parties who put country before party—a trait sorely lacking these days. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I believe that the Nixon administration began the denouement of the Republican Party. It wasn’t obvious at first, but slowly, things began to change. I admired Reagan, but the Iran-Contra scandal was a black mark that stained permanently and I believe it went higher than Ollie North.</p><p>The real spiral downward began with Newt Gingrich and the Moral Majority. Hardcore opposition became the byword instead of trying to find common cause and compromise. The party had forgotten its founding principles. It began to cater to the special interests and upper classes, yet I still hadn’t had my fill.<br><br>
The impeachment of Bill Clinton was another black mark in my book for the Republican Party. I considered it a private matter and nothing that other presidents hadn’t done and more before. In my mind, it did not warrant impeachment—the partisan games had begun in earnest.</p><h2>The 2000 Election; Bush v Gore – FL</h2><p>I remained a Republican. I voted for W, but was somewhat bothered by the Supreme Court decision to halt the count in Florida before it was completed, thus giving the Presidency to W by a narrow margin. As a matter of “fair play” I felt the vote count should have been completed. I was bothered by the renewed conflict in Iraq. I felt it more to “get” Saddam for Daddy than a hunt for WMD. The hunt for Bin Laden I supported fully; the attack on the twin towers was inexcusable.</p><h2>2008-2016</h2><p>This was the genesis of the Tea Party Movement, which was too far right and too fiscally tight for me. I was living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metro area for part of this time. As a healthcare professional, I saw firsthand the need for the ACA and I supported it, but I voted Republican because moderate Republicans were nominated. A few years later, I was very proud of McCain for his “thumbs-down” on repeal of the ACA. It was during this period that to me the meaning of Republican = Obstruction, especially with Mitch McConnell as majority leader of the Senate came to be. Nothing got done that the Obama administration tried to enact. If it didn’t suit Mitch, it didn’t see the light of day, the Grim Reaper ensured it. Merrick Garland’s nomination by Obama was held up for months with the excuse that a new president should have the honor of nomination of a Supreme Court judge for a vacant position. That was not right—Garland should have been given an Up or Down vote with that much time remaining in a presidential term. We would all learn how much that meant to the Republicans Senate in 2020 when RBG passed away just weeks before the general election.</p><p>First rumblings from Trump: birtherism; Obama was not qualified to be President, not a natural citizen, show us a birth certificate. It illustrated Trump’s racism; not my cup of tea.<br><br>
2015; Trump announces his candidacy. Like many, I wrote his candidacy off as a marketing and branding ploy, thinking it wouldn’t go anywhere. I never cared for the man for what little I knew of him before his candidacy and the more I saw, the less I liked. To see him degrade women and make fun of the handicapped, well, how low can you go. A little man with a huge ego.<br><br>
2016-Trump wins the nomination, then the Presidency. I listened to his acceptance speech after winning the election. It’s better than I expected. There was no braggadocio and it was somewhat (for him) humble, so I thought maybe he will be ok, maybe he’s finally realized the import of the responsibility, but then comes the dark and daunting inauguration speech and naming of a bunch of nobodies with little to no government experience to cabinet positions. “Give him a chance,” I told myself.<br>
The lies, the systematic dismantling of the administrative state, the cozying up to autocrats, no&nbsp; pretense of trying to unify the country upset me tremendously. The meetings with Kim Jong Un of North Korea were absolutely. It gave legitimacy to a rogue government. None of this was Presidential. It was during this time that the Lincoln Project was founded. It is a group of Republicans and former Republicans dedicated to defeating Trump and Trumpism. I joined the group in its early stages and remain a member. Meanwhile, in Congress, the massive tax cuts for the rich that opened the debt by a trillion dollars, tariffs that accomplished nothing, and a Senate that churned out right-wing conservative judges, several who were deemed non-qualified by even the Federalist Society, who vetted them for Trump.</p><h2>
The Phone Call and the Firings</h2><p>The final straws for me came within a matter of days. The hearings for the phone call with the new president of the Ukraine seeking aid for the 2020 election in exchange for weapons to use against Russia, the firing of the Ambassador to the Ukraine, the Pentagon liaison officer all but finished it for me. The pettiness and the retribution, the denials in the face of hard evidence left no doubt. I would hold out, though to see what happened. Maybe there would be some statesmen to step up like there were in 1974.</p><h2>Impeachment and Trial</h2><p>I watched the entire hearing for the impeachment and the sham trial. The evidence presented at trial was overwhelming and, if presented in a court of law, would have been a slam dunk for<br>
conviction, but not in a partisan Senate where a 2/3 majority is required to convict. I realized the impeachment is a political process, but each Senator swore an oath to impartially evaluate the evidence presented and render a verdict. With one lone exception, none of the Republican senators had the spine to do so, using the excuse, “let the voters decide.”<br><br>
It was then I knew I had to change my party affiliation, but I also knew I would hold off until after the August primary so I could vote against our 1st District Representative who was running for the Senate seat Pat Roberts was vacating. As soon as the primary was over, I switched parties and have not looked back. I worked on the campaigns for Barbara Bollier, Kali Barnett and the other “Sunflower Sisters” in their quest for Congressional seats.<br><br>
The events leading up to the election, “the only way we lose this election is if it is rigged,” the continued repetition of the BIG LIE, the incitement and “conditioning” of his rabid followers to invade the Capitol have only hardened me to the fact that the GOP I once knew is dead. It has become the party of conspiracy and autocracy.<br><br>
I urge all Republicans who feel lost to look within themselves and abandon the party as I did. Don’t take as long as I did. There is not time. The Democratic Party may not be the answer to all your prayers, but I can’t see how good people could support what the Republican Party is today. We almost lost something very precious and dear on January 6th. We may not be so lucky next time. Our democracy must not be taken for granted. We must do our utmost to preserve it for our future generations.</p><p><i>Mike Giess, Hays</i></p>

LETTER: The move from the GOP to 'very blue'