My Presidential Secret

As the sun sets on the George W. Bush administration: after the attack on The World Trade Center, Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, did anyone think we could go this long without being attacked again? Be honest. You didn't?
I'm about to divulge something so embarrassing most won't believe what I'm about to write. My fingers are near arthritic just thinking about having to do this. There was a time in my life,(please, God, let me get through this ordeal) when my children were in their pre-teen years, I voted for President based on a specific detail. I decided that if a President had served his first term and had kept us out of a nuclear war I was willing to give him a second opportunity. I took the job of the executive office literally: to protect us from foreign invaders. You might now understand what I'm getting at. In the wake of 20% interest rates, automobile gas lines, lowered thermostats and American hostages, I voted for arguably one of the three worst Presidents of the 20th century. Yes, my philosophy has evolved and I now know that the party of surrender and retreat will continue be this way. The aftermath of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia should have convinced me but at the time, I just didn't think it through. Millions of slaughtered southeast Asians abandoned by Democrats should have been my wake up call.
I have never voted for President based on the economy and, hopefully, never will. Any normal high school grad should understand something called econ 101; recessions, depressions, recovery, prosperity. They are an integral part of the capitalistic system. If you can't live with it try totalitarianism.
Only my wife knew this story and to her credit she has kept her silence these thirty three years.