From Knocking Doors for Romney to Delgado: An Evolution of Party, Not Values

The Schoharie Valley, as seen from Vroman's Nose.

Hailing from the most beautiful part of New York - Middleburgh's serene Schoharie Valley - I reside in a community that is traditionalist and culturally conservative. It is experiencing a crossroads as tradition and progression are butting heads not only culturally, but politically. Two candidates are part of this "butting heads," namely NY-19 congressional Democratic candidate Antonio Delgado's momentum filled candidacy to topple incumbent Republican Congressman John Faso and Greene County Legislator & NY-102 State Assembly Democratic nominee Aidan O'Connor Jr's campaign to topple incumbent Republican State Assemblyman Chris Tague, which somehow has found a former Young Republican President turned Democrat GOTV Canvasser caught in the middle of it all. 

Recently, I was asked to explain by a Republican friend on social media why I am supporting a particular Democratic candidate for New York State Assembly. I thought about it for all but five minutes before explaining:

I'll give you the biggest reason why I am supporting Aidan (Aidan O'Connor Jr., the Democratic challenger): character. Couple of months ago, SCCASA held their annual opioid vigil in the Village of Cobleskill. Tague (Chris Tague, the incumbent Republican Assemblyman) was invited to speak, and that's all he did, speak. Aidan attended the event, staying around after the vigil to help SCCASA's employees and volunteers to clear off tables, pack things up, and he did this all without attempting to gain attention. Simply put: Aidan's intent doesn't change when there are or are not cameras present; his character is unwavering and that character is essential in Aidan's love for home and community. I could give more examples from my man interactions with him, but that occurrence has stood out in my mind prominently.

Delivered with conviction and sincerity, those comments likely would not have been possible six years ago. You see, while I am known for my Conservative Democrat streak with a flourish of Libertarianism now, I was once a fairly Republican youngster who would have never considered voting for a Democrat under any circumstance. Period.

Ironically enough, while I spent part of this weekend door knocking for Democrat Antonio Delgado's campaign in the hotly contested NY-19 congressional election, some of my closest friends and I did the same thing for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney six years ago in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

So how does one go from door knocking for Romney in 2012 to Delgado in 2018? Well, it was a gradual evolution, but it mostly stems from a singular event in the Republican Party: the candidacy of Donald Trump.

I'm a conservative-minded guy, but I also believe in protecting people.

I support the right to unionize for all workers (try working at a Wal-Mart or any retail outlet where you have no labor protections), I support campaign finance reform (money has eroded our democracy extensively these past several years), I support universal college education (if you supported education through High School in the past as a means to set young adults up with the best chance to succeed, you have to support it through college now if you still want them to have that same chance), and I support LGBTQ rights (equality and fairness are for all people, it's not just a slogan). Additionally, and generally, I support forward thinking policies and I believe in a sense of decorum, while maintaining that principled compromise is necessary for problem solving.

Donald Trump stood and stands in opposition to all of those sentiments I believe in.

From the moment he announced his candidacy, I wanted nothing to do with a Republican Party that tolerated explicit racism and blatant nationalism. Conversely, I also left the party to support Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary, because while I agreed with little of Sanders' rhetoric, I absolutely respected the man and thought a vote for the #FeelTheBern was better spent than participating in the farce going on in the GOP.

Supporting the best candidate is not a partisan choice.

Many of my independent minded friends within the GOP have felt the same since Trump's rise and have also left the party for independent or bluer pastures, while I initially tried to stay out of the political fray and to remain focused on my occupation of choice - journalism - but that has proved tough.

This road to knocking doors for Antonio Delgado and working on Aidan's campaign in my native Schoharie County is not one without bends and curves in the road: I am sympathetic to mainstream Libertarian ideals and figures such as Gary Johnson and Larry Sharpe, while I managed an independent's political campaign earlier this year in a special election, and both of the aforementioned took place while I have largely supported every local Democratic candidate the past few years.

Some of my Republican friends have not taken so kindly to my change in tone and posture, accusing me of being liberalized by college (I have an AS and BS in Communications from SUNY Cobleskill, and I am currently studying Political Communication at UAlbany), but my views really have not changed over the course of six years.

I am sure some will take my support for Romney (and my love for the deceased Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain) as proof of my "moderate" or "Republican In Name Only" sentiments that were ripe for party flipping at some point, but I did not become the youngest President (15) of a Young Republican Club in New York (2009) with the intention of becoming a card carrying member of the #BlueWave canvassers within ten years. 

Simply put: something changed and it was not me. 

There are other personal and political considerations that have also prompted this change from me, but I do not really have the time to explain them because there are only so many hours left to knock doors for Antonio Delgado and Aidan O'Connor Jr. before polls open on Tuesday. 

I will let my comments in a recent newspaper article explain my support for Delgado, who has faced a slew of dog whistle themed advertisements since securing the Democratic nomination in June, speak as my final comment:

"I think this race between Congressman Faso and Antonio Delgado is indicative of things that are going on in the country. We have this race where we have a Republican, a Republican I actually voted for in 2016 because he had campaigned about being bipartisan and moderate and kind of following in the footsteps of Congressman Chris Gibson, when in fact he's shown a complete misunderstanding of the issues facing people in this country." 

Knight said he believes that many of the ads being run by supporters of Faso use "dog whistle" language, including by referring to Delgado as a "big city rapper."  

"You look at Mr. Delgado's background, somebody that grew up in Schenectady, someone who has a law degree from Harvard, somebody who is a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford College, but there's this one thing that they would have to try to dog whistle and make him out to be something he's not, and I was completely expecting it, and it has been absolutely abhorrent and disgusting that they would go that route." 

There's a lot of people in my community, and parts of the rural part of the 19th Congressional District that are already primed to be against Delgado because he's a Democrat, and playing the 'us versus them' method is playing to the worst natural inhibitor of people's decisions. So, I think it's effective, but I also think it's just morally bankrupt." Daily Gazette: Voices of the 19th District