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In November 2020, I did something new - I voted for Joe Biden for President. To be clear, I had never intended to vote for him. Raised by Republican parents, as time progressed, I moved predominately to the center. In the 2016 election, I voted independent and fully intended to repeat that in 2020. But the days before the election, I grew overwhelmingly disgusted with both political parties. If you had mentioned any of the following words - "Supreme Court replacement, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, fake news, mail in ballots, stimulus" - it triggered me. I started January incredibly interested in the political process but ended October just relieved that it was nearly over. Overall, I felt that the coronavirus reinforced my belief that politicians don't care about the common man or woman. For example, last year, they forced all these businesses to close but had no plan on how to compensate those businesses. We allowed politicians to determine what businesses qualified as "essential" and that irked me. I don't like government overreaching and deciding what businesses can be open or not open. I also couldn't understand how we could only pass one stimulus plan before December 2020. Although I was not personally affected, my heart went out to all the people I know in the service industry who couldn't find another job. I guess, the coronavirus made me more disgusted than ever with the political process. Despite that, when it came time to vote, I decided that I would rather return to the status quo than continue on our current trajectory. I felt that although I have benefited financially during the pandemic, I was okay with paying more in taxes to help others who have been less fortunate.
March 29, 2021