Great post. I respected GWB's authority as the general will of the people. I even voted for him the first time around over Gore. I was GOP back then, but I always voted my conscience, regardless of party affiliation....but I, like you, identified more with the Democratic party.
After Bush's first four years, I became somewhat displeased with his performance. Homeland Security was a big one for me....we had the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI.....we pretty much had our bases covered...if they wanted to start a joint task force and needed personnel....great, hire them...but don't create a new bureaucracy. But overall, I think he did a respectable, if not admirable job with 9/11...that was a tough situation with the entire nation in mourning and demanding justice.
But, I digress....Bush's second election....I voted for Kerry. By that time, we were deep into Iraq and treating Afghanistan as the red headed stepchild, that was the actual homebase for Bin Laden to carry out 9/11. Then there was Katrina. My sister lived in Louisiana at the time....up North in the Alexandria area. She's an RN and took a three week unpaid leave to help the folks down in New Orleans....the stuff she told me was horrific. She also told me first hand information about the hard hit 9th Ward that I never even thought about.
The homes in the 9th ward were mostly built by factory and industrial workers who retired in the 60's, 70's and 80's.....as they died off, they willed those properties to their kids. By the time Katrina hit....those good paying factory and industrial jobs were long gone and you had a lot of people living in their childhood homes with little income to spare for things such as.....HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE. If you go down to the 9th Ward to this very day....it's still a ghost town.
That got me thinking about my political affiliation....but what sealed the deal for me was a little later on....with a slur among GOP members. That slur was RINO. That just plain pissed me off and was the beginning of the extremism I see in the Republican Party today. That was when I filled out a new registration card and went to the Democratic Party. I still vote my conscience and not with the Party line.....but I lean more towards Dems now than I ever have.