I was raised in a household that cared more about sports than politics. That said, it was small town Texas and everyone was Republican by default. I voted Bush in 2000 and probably 2004, can’t remember. I never considered myself a Republican per se, but it just seemed like the good Texan thing to do at the time. I didn’t vote in 2008, 20012, or 2016 because I was apathetic to politics. I also hate the 2 party system and the electoral college we are stuck with, and I didn’t think my vote actually mattered. I voted for Jo Jorgensen in 2020, not because I liked anything about her or her political views, but simply as a protest vote. I wanted Biden to win (because F trump) but I didn’t think my vote was important to that goal. My worldview has grown significantly more liberal as I’ve grown older. Maybe I consider myself a moderate in some ways, but definitely left of center. I care about the climate, renewable energy, world political stability, healthcare, LGBTQ rights, the reproductive rights of women, gun control, but I also would like to see an improvement in inflation, immigration, and lower government spending. Oh, and I am sick and tired of the right increasingly forcing a narrow set of religious beliefs on the entire country. Believe what you want to believe, but you don’t need to pass legislation that requires everyone else to adopt it. I think the Bible claims God wanted man to have free will, hence the apple and the tree of knowledge or whatever, so I don’t understand why some people are so hellbent on stripping that free will away. Jesus didn’t oppress those who were different from him. I don’t consider myself a Democrat because I still think it’s weird to label oneself as D or R, much like pledging loyalty to an athletics conference. However, I do find myself much more aligned with the Democratic Party and repulsed by the Republican Party on most of the issues that are important to me, and I will be voting 100% Democrat this cycle, including Kamala Harris. There is no room for protests votes at this point. All of that said, my single biggest issue this year is Donald Trump and keeping him out of the White House. He’s been convicted of sexually assaulting 1 woman and publicly accused of raping at least 20 others. He’s been convicted of 34 felonies. He started an insurrection to attempt to overthrow a presidential election that he lost, jeopardizing our democracy. I don’t even need to go into things like Project 2025 because the known facts are so vile that nothing else matters. The thought of having a convicted rapist in the White House, as the face of our country, makes my stomach churn and would make me question what it means to be an American. Even if you can get past the rape (or you are MAGA brainwashed into thinking it didn’t happen), he tried to destroy our democracy and will try to do so again if given the opportunity. The politics beyond that are almost inconsequential and I would vote for Bob Stoops over Donald Trump. So yeah, I’m happy to vote for Kamala Harris and I hope she kicks his ass.