Caffeinated Politics

Strong signs in key races across the nation point to a remarkable, bold statement on November 3rd, when many Republican voters will vote for Democrats. That will be one reason a Blue wave will make headlines in newspapers on November 4th. Deep feelings of revulsion over ethical and financial grifting involving Donald Trump, the unadulterated racism against Brown-skinned people (election consequences will be felt especially in Texas), and being deceived about how the GOP would address economic concerns expressed by Republican voters following the 2024 presidential election are but three reasons why the GOP is to be defeated.

Long before this midterm cycle, a man with a quiet disposition living in Hancock, Wisconsin, had supported a long list of Republican Party candidates over the decades. From Dwight Eisenhower to Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and both George Bushes, he voted for the same party. But then President George Bush invaded Iraq on false pretenses. Dad understood that sending Americans into battle was among a president’s gravest responsibilities. It wasn’t something to undertake lightly, and it certainly wasn’t something to justify with claims that couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

And my dad, Royce Humphrey, switched political parties. Not quietly. Not in his usual soft-spoken way. He was a WWII veteran (Pacific Theatre), truly believed in his country, understood the cost of war (“you don’t know war until you see grown men in battle crapping their pants and screaming for their mother”), and he knew loyalty to a political party should never come before loyalty to the larger principles he lived daily.

That is when I got a phone call at my Madison home about how he could get lawn signs for the Democratic candidates running that fall. In the four decades I had been alive, we never had any lawn signs for anything. Our home on County Tk KK, just south of County Trunk C, sat on a road farmers and locals used daily. I recall my first political thought was that our family home had visibility. And knowing Dad did not imbibe and he was healthy, I did not consider that he was having a stroke; I soon realized he was very serious. Of his kids, he knew which one could make things happen quickly. That weekend I drove home, and Dad and I placed the signs so motorists wouldn’t miss them. (Yes, that was my yellow Volkswagen Beetle.)

Dad had come to that point in his life where he was forced to ask what one does when the political party you have supported for most of your life no longer represents what you believe. Many Americans who voted Republican in past election cycles are asking the same question today. Some lifelong Republicans need to reconsider their allegiance to a party whose actions under Donald Trump and congressional Republican leadership have left them questioning whether the party they once trusted still reflects their values. When the federal government guns down citizens on the streets, killing them in cold blood, I have full faith that if Dad were alive, he would be asking for Democratic lawn signs today for his front lawn.

Over the years, I have written about my relationship with Dad. We never fished, camped, or attended ballgames, and we never shared a beer. But we talked about issues that landed before the Town of Hancock Board of Supervisors, where he served for 40 years. As a boy, I knew more about state road aids than most adults because my father taught me (through actions) that government meant responsibility and accountability. I pulled some writings from the time Dad wanted his lawn signs. “Dad’s brave choice taught me something this cycle about political independence, personal integrity, and the difference between belonging to a political party and standing for something. I feel wonderful that we agree on very important issues facing our nation. “

I was home on a Sunday when someone from the local Republican Party called and asked him to make a campaign donation and have his name listed alongside other county residents doing the same. As I noted above, dad was a soft-spoken man, but as the call continued, I looked at mom in the kitchen as Dad raised his voice to tell the caller he wanted his name removed from Republican lists and asked them not to call his home number anymore.

Think about what that meant. He was not a young voter trying on a new political identity. His political loyalties had been formed over a lifetime. He had voted Republican through administrations spanning the postwar era, the Cold War, and the end of the Soviet Union. He had every reason to regard himself as a Republican. But he did not regard a party label as a lifetime contract. When the party’s actions violated his principles, he walked away.

On Election Night this fall, as the data comes in on who voted and why, I will think of dad’s example for anyone facing a conflict between political loyalty and personal conviction. I cannot say what Dad would think about every political controversy today. It would be unfair to turn him into a prop for positions he never had the opportunity to consider. But I know what he did when he believed his party had crossed a fundamental line.

That is the kind of political independence our democracy needs.