I Know Why I Became a Republican.

I was interviewed by a reporter this week, and she asked what I disagreed with in the Democratic Party platform. 
Honestly, I didn't know what to say. 

I told her I didn't agree with the Democratic platform, but when she asked for specifics, I realized I didn't actually know much about it. Still, I was sure I disagreed. I've since looked it up. 

Even though I couldn't answer her question then, I could explain why I became a Republican and why I voted for George H.W. Bush in 1992, my first time voting. 
I grew up during the Reagan years, and my political ideas took shape back then. I remember family conversations at the kitchen table and hearing the president talk about fiscal responsibility, limited government, free enterprise, and personal liberty. Those ideas shaped how I viewed government and its role in our lives. 

Because of that, I saw capitalism as a system that created opportunity, supported by a government that spent responsibly, protected our freedoms, and allowed people to work hard, take risks, and succeed. That was my idea of the American Dream, and I still believe in those principles today. 

Now, in 2026, I find it harder to see how those principles show up in the way either party governs. I think that's something we should talk about. 
This election cycle, we've heard a lot about Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, socialists and RINOs. The parties spend so much energy labeling each other, but little time talking about the ideas that should define them. 

Take fiscal responsibility, for example. Republicans have campaigned for years on smaller government and less spending, but government spending and the national debt keep rising under both parties. We talk about individual liberty and local control, but more often see government telling our communities what they can and can't do. 
People talk a lot about socialism as a threat to capitalism, and I've been thinking about it lately, especially when I see how differently my daughter's generation and mine view the economic system we grew up with. 

I grew up believing that if you worked hard, took risks, and dreamed big, you could get ahead. I watched leaders like Ronald Reagan and later Newt Gingrich talk about free markets, personal responsibility, and keeping government out of the way. I believed capitalism created opportunity, and that competition was key to making it work. 

But capitalism looks very different to my daughter's generation than it did to mine. They see more wealth concentrated at the top, a bigger and more intrusive government, and an economy where owning a home feels out of reach, living costs are high, college is expensive, and finding a good job isn't easy. 

They've heard about the American Dream all their lives, but they're not sure it's really possible for them, even if they work hard and dream big. 

I wonder if that's why more young Americans are open to socialism. Maybe instead of dismissing their concerns because we dislike the label, we should ask what their experience with capitalism has really been. 

I don't think socialism is the answer, but I can see why a generation that sees the economy mostly helping the wealthy and well-connected might want something different. 
Have we let government and big business get so close that the competition capitalism needs is fading? When corporations get government favors, money buys political access, and small businesses struggle, are we really practicing the free enterprise we say we believe in? 

This isn't a Republican or Democratic problem. It's a politics problem. 

That brings me back to the question I started with. 

I wonder if our political system isn't suffering from some of the same problems. We've become so focused on which party wins and who holds power that the competition of ideas has taken a back seat to the competition for control. Instead of debating policy and holding our own leaders accountable, we spend our time arguing about the other team. 
I've spent years working in Republican politics, including as a staffer in the Texas Senate. Back then, we had serious debates about how to fund schools, fix property taxes, and meet the state's needs. We didn't always agree, but we debated ideas, and I believed those ideas mattered more than political labels. 

I still do. 

Maybe what our political system needs is more of the very thing that made me believe in capitalism in the first place: competition. Elections should be a marketplace of ideas where we debate policies, examine records, and consider different approaches to making our lives a little better than they are today. 
Competition is essential to making capitalism work. Shouldn't we expect it to make our political system work, too?