Ah I'm frustrated I forgot to hit send on my message to you and lost it when my phone updated lol.

To summarize, I come from the idyllic Republican — perhaps MAGA — roots: Rural Appalachian Christian conservative; my family voted for Bush Jr., in his first time; they marched at pro-life rallies. Guns 'n all. For a couple reasons we as a family were able to perform a complete 180 from those days for a couple unique reasons. Generally I attribute the change to three things: (1) The Wild West of the Internet. At the time, echo-chambers weren't established so you were exposed to a wide range of viewpoints that opened our minds. (2) Iraq echoed the Vietnam war, for which my dad was heavily-invested in his hippie days. The parallels helped shatter the Republican indoctrination. (3) My mom homeschooled us but put a massive emphasis on empathy, and eventually the dissonance became too strong in the Republican party. Since then we became non-religious and voted Democrat every election.

So I appreciate that man you encountered, because my family is living proof people can change. It's just harder today. The propaganda is so incredibly strong...

Anways, I try to tell people if you're looking for fear and rage Republicans may be for you; but if you're looking for love and solidarity, I think you can find that among people who gather around folks like Bernie. Follow the love.