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I signed back on in 99. I remember JimRob's post on Bush back then. He can answer if he chooses the change in his views on that if he wants. My views have not changed that much since then, but my tactics have. It would not suprise me if that was the case with some of the others here as well, and while I won't presume to speak for JimRob, something similar may have happened in his case. First in 99 I was not a Republican, I was indy. Also, back in 99, if someone looked in the future and found that I voted for Bush, I would have asked him what he was smoking. There was no way it was going to happen. I was wavering between Browne and Buchanan. I didn't like Bush's moderate views on a lot of things, and I also didn't like his dad, specifically for Mena.

Fast foward to the primary. I voted for Keyes in the primary. I didn't view McCain in the same distain as I do today, but he was still Keating 5 man. Primary ended. Still wavering between Browne and Buchanan. I later got a reform party primary ballot. I'm not a registered member of the Reform Party. I was just on his mailing list. I should not have gotten one. He hijacked it. Buchanan was out. In Michigan, he was off the ballot as well. I was probably going to go for Browne. This was around April 2000.

I then remember a few things. The Elian raid brought back the memories of Waco, and all the other stuff that went down in the Klinton years. FBI files, China, Travel Office, Mena, Dan Harmon's train deaths. I still haven't forgotton all of that.

It was closer to the election, and about a month before the election, I made my decision to vote for Bush. The reason was simple. Judges. I did not want any gun grabbing judges out there. There was one other reason. That was Janet Reno. Gore was going to keep a lot of Klinton's people there, and Eric Holder was who I expected to take Reno's spot. That was unacceptable. Andrew Cuomo was another rising star. Still an Indy then, I voted a split ticket and voted for Bush.

The whole Florida debacle then happened, and I was glad I didn't vote for Gore then. I saw the tactics by Jesse Jackson, Daley, etc, and even I was suprised. That was also a start of me actually becoming a Republican.
In early 2001, I met someone who was on Libertarian Jon Coon's campaign in 94. This Libertarian "Could Win". He got 5%. We talked about our views in depth, and his views were almost exactly the same as mine. I then knew there was a place in the GOP for me. I then met Chris Ward, the head of the County party(now my state rep) and Congressman Mike Rogers. We agree more than we disagree. While the RINO's get all the press, they are still the exception more than the rule. I went to a county party meeting, met several of the people there, and then joined. It wasn't the RINO's at the meeting. It was the conservatives. The person that took the chair of the party after Chris did was someone who also had views that almost matched mine exactly. I made the right decision

Now as for Bush, in some areas, he's been great. In foreign policy, he's 10 times better than his dad was, and 100 times better than the last guy there. We just might finally get out of that UN. If nothing else, that's now more than simply a pipe dream. He's been good on tax issues. On some of the other areas, you know where I stand. I will say that I'm damn well glad it's not Gore in there though. There's no way I'm going to turn into a "Bushbot" either. I was never much in the way of being a follower unless it's following sports coverage.

And lastly, does Free Republic suck? If I thought it did, I wouldn't be here. I can't speak for the others, but the mods have been more than fair with me, even when I get my Irish up. If there are those that don't like this site, there's always another. Go there, and do it better than FR. If I don't like how something is done, I go out and do it better. That's why I'm doing with a statewide pro-2a org that was started last February. There are talkers and doers. I'll yap with the best of them, but I'll always back it up.

Lastly, there isn't much use that's going to come from bitching about this site 24/7 and creating stupid ass websites like Free Republic Sucks. Whoever set it up - Thanks for sharing that with us, and congratulations on your 15 minutes of fame. Soon, you'll go the way of Crystal Pepsi, Red Dog Beer, The second lead singler of Motley Crue, or Battlefield Earth. No one remembers, nor cares.

Thanks very much. I really appreciate your post. Back during the dark days of the Clinton years, if anyone would've asked me if I'd back a Bush Presidency they would've received an earful. Bush? Of all the conservative possibilities, he was probably my last choice. No one was more surprised than me when after the primaries I found myself supporting him. Why? The possiblity of Prince Albert Gore and four more years of Clintonite corruption, that's why. No thanks. Been there, done that.

Those were the dark days for me. With all the slime, filth and corruption from the top down, I had little faith in government. I was actually afraid that America was going to fail. Every day, and I mean every damned day there was another Democrat scandal. Our president and the top layers of his party were obviously and thoroughly corrupt. And not only corrupt, but treasonous as well. And as the press was apologetic and in full cover-up mode, and the Congress was ineffective and powerless and feared complicit, ie, the inept congressional hearings and failed impeachment trial, we were all shocked and fearing that the corruption was rampant in both major parties. At the time I was convinced that we had to throw them all out and elect all new blood.

Well, thankfully, I was wrong. George W. Bush has turned out to be a godsend. The difference between Bush and Clinton or Bush and Gore (or Hillary, Daschle, Lieberman or any other Democrat) has turned out to be like the difference between night and day or more to the point, the difference between good and evil. I now thank God every day that George Bush is our President and Commander-in-chief and that Bill Clinton and Al Gore are unemployed!

I sincerely believe that we are now on the correct path to cleaning up our government. Now all I want to do is make sure that Bush is reelected and that he maintains a conservative majority and not only that, but that he receives a loud and clear and unmistakable mandate from the voters that says he can override and overpower the filthy lying democrats and corrupt bureaucrats! And that he has a clear mandate to finally start replacing the liberal judiciary, and that they can start overturning and reversing some of the asinine and unconstitutional decisions and precedents set by the liberals, and that he can start tearing down the corrupt and out of control socialist federal bureaucracy and its unconstitutional welfare state. So help me God, I believe this is an opportunity and most likely our last opportunity to take back America before she slides down the final path to Gomorrah.

I believe in this with all my heart. The way I see it, it's now or never. A couple more terms of Clinton/Gore Democrat corruption and treason and America would belong to the ages. The dark ages. We'd be history.

Regarding Dan's post #385 and JimRob's reply #403:

I remember those days in 1999 and the previous 6 years when each morning I'd awaken only to find a new, more troubling scandal. I thought that it couldn't get any worse, yet the accumulation of them all seemed like it could very well be spelling the end of America.

I registered here at FR in 1998, and have seen the various major feuds, which always led to some members leaving, others being banned, and yet FR is still here and IMHO, FR is at least partially responsible for what I consider to be an America in much better shape than in 1998.

I don't agree with all of President Bush's policies. Before I condemn him or members of his Administration and refuse to continue supporting them, I stop and recall those 8 horrific years in the 1990s, and then I think of 2004.