I grew up in Provo, UT.  It is often referred to as "Happy Valley". It's the home of BYU and has a mostly LDS population. Utah Valley is very conservative and I grew up as a conservative. I didn't know any Democrats when I was young. I remember a friend in elementary school saying freedom of speech meant you could say you hate the president. I remember wondering why anyone would hate Ronald Reagan. Maybe my friend was from a Democratic family; I never found out.

I watched the Bush Sr. campaign and developed an early interest in politics. No one I knew liked Dukakis. My school performed a patriotic program with a theme song based on Bush's "Thousand Points of Light" phrase.  Being a Republican was a given for me at that time.

As the election in 1992 grew closer I noticed a lot of people weren't happy with President Bush. His broken promise of no new taxes hadn't gone over well. But, since no one votes for Democrats what was a person to do? Enter Ross Perot.

My parents were among many adults I heard who voiced support for Perot. They weren't happy with Bush but voting for Clinton was seen as heresy. I believe Perot could have won Utah if he hadn't made his missteps. As it was Utah was the only state where Perot finished ahead of Clinton. Utah was unhappy with the Republican party but definitely not embracing the Democrats.

During high school I devoloped an interest in the history of politics. I wanted to read controversial works for the sake of the controversy. My history teacher told my class that during the 50s the government looked into any students who checked out The Communist Manifesto from the school library. I promptly went to the library and checked it out. I have to say it's one on the driest books I've read.

I began challenging all my preconcieved notions. One of my friends worshipped Adam Smith and the free market. I delighted in playing devil's advocate about the free market. The Republican party was beginning to lose its luster for me.

I headed off to college in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah. Several people I knew seriously feared going there would lead me to fall away from the church. This despite it having the largest institute program in the world and a very strong student ward system.

I became friends with many of my dorm neighbors. Most were LDS but a few weren't. Some were actually Democrats and quite critical of the Republican candidates. This was going to be my first year to vote.

I began watching my friends closely. Some of the Democrats made very good points and some of the Republicans seemed paranoid about issues like homosexuality and abortion. I had a neighbor in the dorms who was gay and I faced knowing a homosexual for the first time. This freaked out one of my friends who seemed sure the gay man was checking him out and wanted to seduce him. I thought this was ridiculous. I could see he was just another person who happened to do something with which I didn't agree. He was far from the only one in the dorms with a lifestyle different from my own.

I went to the polls that year very frustrated. Bob Dole had the personality of cauliflower and I didn't much care for what he was saying anyway. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Clinton as I still considered myself a conservative.

I voted for an obscure third party and I'm not even sure anymore which one it was. I headed into the new year unsure of my place in the political spectrum but highly interested in politics. This was when I met my future wife.

She was an active Church member who happened to also be a Democrat. Her father was in the Stake Presidency and a former elected Democrat in the State Legislature. This made quite an impression on me as I hadn't yet found many examples of strong LDS democrats.

I started looking at the Democrat's platform and my personal beliefs about helping people. I realized my views had been more in line with the Democrats for some time.  I started to embrace my newfound party.

Since that time I have become involved in promoting and supporting Democratic candidates. I strongly believe that their vision of the future is more in line with what Christ taught. I know we don't agree on all policies. I tell people I'm in line with the Democratic platform on about 90% of things. I'm in line with the Republicans on about 5% of things. Which party is closer to my goal? I will work to shape the Democratic Party on the issues with which I don't agree.

I now live in Cheyenne, WY. I am still actively involved in politics and working for candidates I believe in.