Once upon a time, there was a young girl born on March 17, 1963 in New York City. Oh, and did I mention born without a single drop of Irish blood running through her veins, which she was reminded of over the years by her wonderful Irish American friends. By the age of five, she and her family had moved to Boston. Settling in yet another blue state, she grew up in the lovely town of Wellesley, went to high school and then eventually left the nest kicking to attend Denison University located in picturesque Granville, Ohio.
With hopes of becoming a writer, her dream of being the next, great investigative journalist dwindled fast when her freshman English professor (a kind but odd, older-than-God dude) assigned the semester reading list, which consisted of prose that made your eyes fall to the back of your head. With a mad dash to the registrar’s office, a new major was born: Sociology / Anthropology. Then, to make sure she wasn’t going to get completely lambasted by Dad (aka the financier), she declared Economics as her minor and the rest is history.
The girl? Me.
After four years, a junior semester abroad to Florence, Italy that changed my life (and waistline) and a bachelor’s degree under my belt later, I trekked back to Boston and was soon employed by a Boston-based publishing company (Park Street sound familiar? Any guesses?). Then it was off to graduate school. Hello London, England! In London, I finally (come hell or high water) got my master’s degree in Victorian Literature from King’s College, lived with a fun-loving American girl who kept things exciting, and met a few fabulous friends with two who stand out in my mind as very special: a fabulously interesting Welsh man who graduated with honors and is now the Director of an IB program at a prestigious prep school in England; and Iva, an Italian woman who eventually married an Italian doctor and was just super fun to be with regardless of subject matter (not to mention she took the time to cross the Atlantic in 1992 to be at
my wedding).
My life by age 25 in a nutshell.
With all of the twist and changes that took place, the one aspect of my life that never actually shifted was my fascination with and gravitation toward Conservative politics. Maybe it was Ronald Reagan in the 80s. My dad revered him, told me Reagan was a good and honest man. Told me he was a great president, maybe one of the greatest presidents of our time.
It appears now both Democrats and Republicans are fighting over who has rights to his legacy as they bicker over raising the debt ceiling. Honestly, neither party does or deserves to align themselves with this man’s legacy given Congress’ all time low approval rating. Anyone that knows Reagan, also knows he parted ways with the Democratic Party in the early 1960s and not because he wanted to but rather because the Democratic Party left him.
Reagan was my first presidential vote and I‘ll hang my hat on that one.
Since 1984, I have never skipped a general election or understood why anyone would renounce their right to vote. What’s even more incredible, I have always voted for the Republican…even when Bill Clinton was looking pretty good pre-Lewinsky. Turns out, Mr. Bill was not so squeaky clean or lucky in love. My political leaning is not hard for me to understand; the essence of the Republican Platform just feels natural to me as a born and bred American.
From the very beginning, I remember thinking conservatism was cool, in fact, it felt liberating. Maybe Reagan’s ideology, through the prodding of my dad, fostered my belief that conservatism was by definition synonymous with the idea that America was founded as a Republic not an unsustainable Democracy as so many children are taught today in the public and private school systems.
Regardless, I now find myself deeply fascinated with debunking the myth that conservatism isn’t cool. Personally, conservatism isn’t just cool by nature, it’s incredibly liberating if you really dig into the Founding Father’s intent.
Maybe I have arrived at this theory because I have lived in Utah for 20 years and now work closer with the Conservative (Mormon) caucus than ever before. Or, maybe it’s because I grew up in the very Blue State of Massachusetts. Either way, it doesn’t matter. What this theory does is forces my hand. I am now compelled like never before to hunt down the coolest and hippest in conservatism until I am vindicated in my “Conservatism is Cool” premise.
Speaking of cool and conservative, check out my first find and Elephant Under Glass' official Cool Conservative #1: Steve Crowder. Check out the video monologue and follow this hysterical Fox contributor and comedian on Twitter too at @scrowder. Crowder is cool and conservative but even better…he’s freaking hilarious and so right on!
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