I was raised by a mother who was a Democrat and never knew my father's leanings since he never said much about it and since he came from Sweden as a 14 year old and never went back. He took up US citizenship as an adult and made sure his children were patriotic but never let us know where he stood on political issues. He passed away while I was still in high school.

I do remember my mother coming back after visiting her siblings in Seattle complaining that 'they born and raised Democrats, why are they now Republicans? That was very impressionable to me as a young person and, until I got into college, I never gave the Party issues much more thought.

I attended a Conservative religious college in Seattle and had never given much thought about which party I might align with. That year was the year JFK was running against Nixon. Since my mother's earlier comments still ran thru my mind about being born and raised Democrat coupled with the natural need for a young adult to launch out on their own which often is contrary to family rules coupled with the Conservative values of the college I was attending, I mentally became a Republican! Later, I left college and married a Republican so I was still a Republican. Through the next 20 years or so, I remained a Republican.

Although I considered myself a Republican, I started paying more attention to each candidate and found myself supporting an occasional Democrat since I felt that individual would do the best job at the point in time. As time went on, I voted for more and more Democrats even tho my leanings were toward the Republican party. I will never forget shaking hands with Scoop Jackson and being at his house for a special event when my daughter won a Gertrude Jackson Scholarship. That man always supported Washington and was a great man. He always had my vote. I was so sorry when I heard thru the hospital I worked that he had passed away. He also visited that hospital frequently to shake hands with the employees-me being one of them!

Since those days, I have voted for as many Democrats as I have Republicans and a few Independents. I have become more and more aware of who, running in whatever situation has views the closest to mine. I cannot vote for someone who runs based on gender, religion or race although I also cannot vote for someone who is against gender, religion or race. I can vote for a woman or man, a person of any race, but not someone who's religion would pit them against values in our constitution. I get sick and tired of the 'mud slinging' as we heard it called in years past. I feel the 'mud slinging' is even worse in this campaign. I have no problem with our President being either black, white, female or male but, I think the way they have gone about it this time is worse than 'mud slinging' and I would refuse to vote for either Democrat and I am still thinking about the Republican candidate. Does he really have what this country needs right now? I lean towards him since he does not seem to do the 'mud slinging' that we are currently seeing. But, does his years as a POW give him enough insight to handle this country's current needs? I hope so, he currently has my vote!

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