If you had told me when I was younger that I would be as politically aware and engaged as I am now, I wouldn't have believed you. While I did grow up in a family of politically engaged people, it's something I myself never showed much interest in. So then that begs the question, what the heck happened? How did I end up this way?
I'm blessed to have been born into a family of mixed political ideologies. Some of my family are conservative and reliably vote Republican. Others are quite the opposite. While it wasn't necessarily typical dinner discussion - and perhaps that was intentional, to avoid unnecessary tension - politics were certainly discussed now and again. (These discussions often took place during car rides with my father.) It's thanks to this mixture that I am the way I am. While I do consider myself generally liberal and call myself a progressive, there are certainly differences I share with others of like-minded political views. For one example, when it comes to many issues of foreign policy, I do tend to agree more with the Republican mindset. It was one of the areas in which I disagreed with President Obama the most. I also like to think of myself as much more willing to engage with "the other side," and in some cases, I've been willing to cast a vote for them. So in that sense, I've been more of a fluid independent.
As a kid, I paid little attention to politics despite listening to many discussions. During President Clinton's tenure, I was just a child, and all I really remember thinking is that I saw him on TV an awful lot. Toward the end of 2000, after George W. Bush won the election despite narrowly losing the popular vote to Al Gore, I can remember a palpable tension. And in 2004, when President Bush won reelection, I can remember my Social Studies teacher expressing disappointment. But, other than these observations, I paid little attention. It wasn't until the 2008 elections, which took place during my senior year of high school, that I first started to pay attention. The idea of a President Hillary Clinton terrified me. As Senator, she had openly expressed her view that marriage was between one man and one woman, that she would not support any kind of legalization for same-sex marriage. I connected the dots to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, a Clinton-era law, and was terrified of what other repressive laws her presidency might bring. I was closeted at the time, and the notion of coming out was hard enough as it was. In some ways, I think I've maybe never forgiven her for the views she expressed back then. But I digress. In comparison to Clinton, Obama was charismatic, more liberal in almost every way, and most of all he gave me a sense of hope. I was only 17 at the time, and so I wasn't able to vote, but I paid attention to the primaries and hoped wholeheartedly that he would win the nomination. (He did, as we know, and went on to the win the general election as well.)
Between elections, I paid no attention, just like too many Americans. Though I was over 18 during the 2010 midterms, I did not vote. Perhaps I am partly to blame for the sweeping GOP takeover at that time. Two years later, however, I did vote. But not for who you'd think. I was more politically knowledgeable by then and paid closer attention to world affairs than I had before. The change President Obama had promised never fully manifested, and the world - it seemed to me, at least - was close to catching fire. Though I disagreed with him on many issues, it seemed a simple choice for me. So the first vote I ever cast was in 2012, for Mitt Romney as President. Though I like President Obama as a person and will miss certain things about his administration now that it's over, I look back and still have no regrets about the vote I cast in 2012. I'd do it again. (Mitt Romney standing up to Donald Trump during the 2016 primaries only served to reaffirm my conviction that I'd made the right choice back then.)
It was in early 2015 that my political awakening fully manifested. Bernie Sanders seemed to voice almost all of my concerns, putting into words political views I'd never before known how to properly articulate. And though I disagreed with him on some issues, I embraced his candidacy for President passionately, and for the first time found myself actively - not just passively - engaged in political discussion both online and in person. I attended rallies, I attended marches, I had discussions with family and friends and got some of them on board. I even tried phone banking despite the immense anxiety that it brought me. I studied up on politics and current events, wanting to make sure I got my facts right. (I even accidentally memorized the name and location of every single U.S. state and territory during this process, something which I had struggled to do when taught in middle school.) I did everything I could to push for his nomination. And as for Hillary Clinton, I cited many of the same concerns I had when she ran eight years prior. The outpouring of passion I witnessed and took part in felt like it surpassed anything I remembered from 2008, and it moved me. Though we did not win the primary, it was very clear that we had won the policy debate. Hillary Clinton adopted many of his proposals, and with fear of Trump driving much of my motivation I tried to support her like I did Sanders. The rest is, of course, history.
The election is over now, but the work has only just begun. I'm awake. I'm paying attention. I've learned and am continuing to learn. I intend to cast my vote as often as I can, in every election. I intend to keep fighting. There's a battle being waged for the soul of the Democratic party, a generational opportunity to shape the future, and an even larger battle for the soul of America. I have no intention of sitting it out.
