My first blog

I guess the first thing to do would be to introduce myself:

I am a 68 year old white man, who is highly educated and I consider myself to be a liberal Democrat! When I was much younger I was a Republican but my hero, John Lindsey (former Mayor of New York City), switched from being a Republican to a Democrat in the mid-60s. I followed suit and switched at that time. While it shouldn't matter, I am also gay. (Unfortunately people in our society like to put labels on you.) As long as I can remember I have been interested in politics, not running for office but studying the political process and trying to understand the American psyche!

My first opportunity to vote was in the 1964 presidential election (not counting some small local and school board elections in Kansas, where I was raised. It is interesting that in the first election my sister and I voted in our candidate won by two votes.) I was an avid Barry Goldwater supporter. By 1968 I was a staunch Democrat however and have voted Democratic every since, except perhaps for some local candidates. In the late 1960s I even managed a Republican candidate's run for the state legislature in Kansas. We won the primary but I was off to graduate school and he lost the general election! To this day, I'm not sure if my being there would have made a difference or not.

I spent eight (8) years in the Air Force, first as an enlisted person and then after going to Officer Candidate School and an officer in the Atlas ICBM missile program. I served during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was eventually assigned to NASA when the Air Force had visions of having a secret manned space program. Then came Vietnam and Congress realized that we could not afford two separate manned space programs.

In 1967 I got out of the Air Force and returned to college to finish my B.A. degree. I had a double degree in Political Science and History. In 1970 I went to graduate school majoring in Political Science. I received my M.A in Political Science in 1973 and completed all my work toward my Phd, including being admitted into candidacy. I never finished writing my dissertation for a number of reasons: 1.) my fellowship had run out and I went to work full-time and 2.) a member of my dissertation team moved on to another university and his replacement wanted me to change my topic. Since I had been admitted into candidacy and my prospectus had been accepted I wasn't ready to change topics simply because he thought I should. Furthermore, I had thought I had wanted to become a college professor but after teaching for a few years and working in an administrative capacity I realized I enjoyed the administrative role much more than the "publish or perish" role.

After working in the university setting for a number of years I went into government work in 1984. Except for a couple of years trying my hand in the private sector, I have been in government every since.