I first remember politics with my parents. Children of the 40’s and activists of the 60’s, the 80’s for them were like a menagerie of shattered dreams. The messages of unity, change, volunteerism, and true inspiration from the 60’s had given way to the lies and cynicism of the 70’s and the new Conservative frontier of the 80’s.
Before I was even old enough to know what I wanted out of my politicians and for my country, I knew disappointment. My parents‘ frustration was mine—as an eight year old, a nine year old, a ten year old. Oh they did their best to hide it, but I remember them yelling at the nearly-animatronic President Reagan on television. I remember being in DC with my father on a family vacation during the presidency of Bush the Elder and watching him seethe at (and boo) an awful Congressman spewing hate toward Ted Kennedy in a speech on Capitol Hill. My father was not the sports fan I am, this was as passionate as I’d ever seen him about anything.