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What Caused a Lifelong Democrat to Switch Parties After Night One of the GOP Convention

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  August 25, 2020 12:50 PM

I mean, it’s one vote, yes—but a critical one in a state that Democrats hope to retake in 2020. Ohio has long been the state that usually sewed up a GOP win. George Will, a longtime columnist for The Washington Post, aptly noted that the old playbook for the GOP was to win the South, the Midwest, the West, and then spend the GDP equivalent of Brazil and win Ohio. Barack Obama changed all that, but I digress. In 2016, Trump won Ohio handily, with the help of some of those Obama voters.

Last week, it was whinefest with Democrats, who held their convention with the overarching theme that they’re pissed and it’s Trump’s fault. America is a racist nation. Voting Democratic will erase all of that. They truly think we’re that stupid. 

On night one of the GOP convention, you heard remarks from ordinary people discussing the trials and tribulations associated with gun violence, health care, and owning small businesses. These weren’t the celebrity elite. They were ordinary Americans. Night one kicked off by honoring America, highlighting the possibilities that come through hard work and determination. It should have made you proud to be an American. It wasn’t a bash fest. 

For one lifelong Democrat in Ohio, Rick from Lorain, it was enough to switch parties. He declared on C-SPAN that after Monday night, he’s voting Republican. One of the main reasons was the GOP’s references to God.

“I was really touched by the number of times they used the word ‘God.’ They put God into everything and the people on the Democratic side…acted like they were pushing God right out of it,” he said. 

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When asked if he was a union worker, Rick said he wasn’t. He was just a resident of Lorain which is a Democratic stronghold. It went heavily for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Yet, back in January, it seemed that even union workers were lining up behind Trump: