Oh, I think most of us realized decades ago that the Democrat party was slowly moving toward some form of ideology that resembled Communism.
For me, the realization that they were headed in that direction, came during Carter’s term in office, although it still took me a while to realize that they were never going to stop ratcheting left until they achieved a fundamental and complete transformation into full blown Socialists, untethered to our founding precepts, our history, or even our country.
As a young twenty-something Democrat, I’d voted for Carter out of a knee jerk allegiance to the party I’d been raised with. After his one and only term in office, I was left baffled and disillusioned the party, and politics in general. When he ran against Reagan in 1980, I didn’t even bother to vote.
Over the next eight years, I witnessed the great Ronaldus Magnus bring this country out of the doldrums, and reignite something in our people that I hadn’t seen since I was a small child. I had to admit that everyone seemed to be doing better, and that there seemed to be a sure hand at the wheel, which provided a deep sense of security and stability. My lot, and the lot of everyone I knew improved during his time in office.
Still, I remained fundamentally uneducated about the true ideological differences between the major parties, so I didn’t run right out and register as a Republican. I didn’t bother to vote in 1988, and was perfectly happy for Reagan’s VP to (hopefully) keep the country on the same comforting course.
In 1992, I had decided that there was no way I could give my vote to the Democrat nominee. I was thoroughly unimpressed with Bill Clinton, but still wasn’t quite ready to vote for the (gasp!) Republican. Ross Perot was speaking my language, and I threw right in with him. When he later backed out of the campaign, only to try to get back in it, I was done with him too. I wound up sitting out the presidential election yet again.
The next several years of the Bubba & Hildy show caused me to withdraw permanently from the Democrat party. I became very open to a new direction. Sometime during Clinton’s second term, I found talk radio, and thus began my emancipation and eventual reunion with my true political brethren.
Therein lies hope as well. I live in an entrenched D area - unions and the like (GM still has a plant open nearby). So many vote D because that's how they were raised. The old mantra "democrats for the working people, republicans for the rich ..." has been the challenge. Perhaps now, the hard-working, decent, and America-loving democrats (there are many) will begin to examine the policies not so much the parties.
I hope I never lose hope.
;^)