Written by Walter Hecht   

I was born a Republican and always voted that way until 2000. I believed what GOP politicians said and was skeptical of the Democrats. I trusted big business, and I religiously absorbed the editorial pages of the Chicago Tribune and the Wall Street Journal. That started changing with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and my journey through insurance hell in 2004 when I totaled my van and then fell and broke a leg. Some people do not survive insurance hell, but I came out changed and stronger for the experience. Insurance hell for those who have not experienced it is having two or more insurers who say that your claim is the other company's responsibility.

I no longer trust Republican politicians or big business or the Wall Street Journal and I have never trusted Fox News. I don't claim that the Democrats have all the truth and the Republicans none, but I think that the Democrats are much closer to the truth than the GOP. I am now older and wiser and poorer. I still consider myself a member of the GOP, perhaps a RINO, but I don't care about labels. I support Barack Obama because the GOP have not offered any viable alternatives when the country so needs solutions to our myriad problems. I don't expect the GOP to shape up anytime soon, so perhaps they'll just have to ship out, to be replaced by a responsible party.