I already left over Romney. Took Palin long enough. I find it amusing that those of us who didn’t roll over or left the GOP were called traitors and liberals and told that a 3rd party would never float. Many of these same ones are now supporting the idea if Palin is on board.
Not everybody comes to the same destination at the same speed. We need to find a way to accommodate that. We need to welcome people who cross that line with a slap on the back, a grin, and a handshake while we say “Glad to see you finally made it!” instead of derision and ridicule.
I use this example that I relate below because it relates to me personally, but I don’t think that I’m alone in responding this way.
It took me long time to come around to the realization of what John McCain was as a politician and a person. I had personal reasons for doing so, reasons like growing up in a military family, being completely engrossed in the POW issue is a military dependent living overseas, and finally, actually having John McCain is my commanding officer for a period of time.
I made some comments in defense of John McCain in a couple of threads, and nobody jumped on me too hard, which probably illustrates how inconsequential that defense must’ve been. There was a Freeper who sent me an email, and it was a very calm, and reasoned email. It said something to the effect of “I understand how you feel, and why you say the things you do, but you have to come around and look at the issue logically and understand that John McCain is not your friend. I have read some of your posts, and your ideology is very far removed from that of John McCain, and he does not have your best interests, or the best interests of the country at heart. You need to find a way to see the truth and accept it.”
Now, I don’t recall who that Freeper was, but I often wish that I could remember so I could thank him appropriately. He understood immediately upon reading one of my posts how difficult it would be to separate John McCain the liberal, Republican, maverick from the Naval pilot, POW, commanding officer John McCain. And he helped me.
I’m grateful for that. It was a “sacred cow” that I had to slay in my mind, and I had to do it myself. Nobody else could do it for me, it had to be me. I have a tendency to be very stubborn when I’m being attacked, and I sometimes think that if that guy had attacked me vigorously, I might still be stuck where I shouldn’t be.
We need to figure out how to do the same for people who need to slay the sacred cow of “The Grand Old Party”. We need those folks.