Guest post by Scan
I remember very well where I was on election night in November 1992. I was over at my dad’s place, and it was just the two of us. Before long, the call was made that Bill Clinton would be our next president, and after it sunk in for a moment, Jim looked over and said “We won, son.” The way he said it, I could tell he had been waiting a long time…12 years to be exact…for this moment.
Why was it just the two of us? You see, pretty much my entire family, and many of my friends, were die-hard Republicans and my enthusiasm for Clinton did not go over well at all. I’ll never forget the distrustful glares I got across the dinner table at some family reunions. It was hard being a teenage Democrat in Abilene Texas, and the 1992 election was only the beginning of the struggle.
My refuge from all this was my dad, who was a lifelong yellow dog Democrat. At an early age, his grandfather told him that the party was “good for the workin’ man” and that’s all it took. Let me put it this way: He talked more positively about the Carter presidency than anyone I’ve ever known! We had so many great talks on politics and he was always level-headed and no nonsense.
Also, he was a huge fan of Hillary Clinton. I do not remember a single time when he did not speak very highly of her. Whenever one of his friends or coworkers would put her down (and this was the 1990s, so it was a national pastime), he’d always be the first to speak up in her defense. Also, I remember being on the phone with him on election day in 2000 when the New York Senate race was called, so I got to tell him that she won. I could tell he was totally thrilled. So obviously, the recent historic primary has made me think of dad quite a bit. Whenever Hillary won a contest, or did extremely well during a debate, my usual first thought was to give dad a call. But as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t.
One week ago today was the one-year anniversary of dad’s passing, and last Friday would have been his 77th birthday. His energy was boundless, even into his 70s, so we had always expected him to live well into his 90s. His family history would have suggested that as well. But the speed with which Parkinson’s Disease took hold of him shocked us all. Even today, at a lunch in his honor, my brothers and I still couldn’t believe how quickly it happened. It is a truly terrible disease.
There was, of course, so much more to him than politics. He loved to fish (as you can see in the picture), was an avid golfer, and was always interested and supportive of his three sons in whatever we did. But his impact on me politically was huge. Specifically, I’m so grateful that there was at least one person in my life who really got why I was a Democrat and understood why it was so important to me. Believe me…in the middle of Texas during the Clinton years, such support was essential.
So, for all these reasons and more…today I have three words in honor of dad: Happy Father’s Day.
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