If the Republicans have lost my neighbor, they have no hope . . .

This is a story about my neighbor across the street.  He is a good guy.  We've been neighbors for 12 years - he has lived in the same neighborhood for close to 30 years now.  He is about 55 or so.  He retired a few years ago from a government job to take care of his aging parents, who have since passed away. He has never married, generally putts around his house all day.  He and I take care of each other's lawns when we are away, he keeps an eye on my house, my kids, I do the same for him (he has no kids though).  He helps my wife with tasks when I am not around.  Generally, all in all, a really great neighbor and a really great guy.

Oh, and during the entire time of our acquaintanceship, he has been, until now, a republican . . . .   Join me below the fold for a synapsis of the absolutely stunning discussion I had with him this weekend.

As I stated above, "Terry" is a really great guy - I can't begin to convey to you how good he has been to my family and I, and to the rest of his neighbors.  "Terry" belongs to an extreme right-wing Christian church.  He and I have had many discussions over our differences vis a vis religion (I belong to a liberal Christian church with a pacifist bent). He is a believer in creationism - he believes that a person can only be saved in the hereafter through belief in Jesus Christ, etc. etc.  He has always been respectful of my views, but he simply does not agree with them.

He has been a republican for all of his life.  He voted for Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Reagan, Bush, Bush, Dole, Bush and Bush.  He tells me he has done so out of religious conviction - he believes the republican party does a better job for Christians.  His local and state political beliefs and voting practices have been similarly rigidly republican.  Please note that between the two of us, it is my wife and I who have the yard signs up around election time, it is we who had the enormous peace sign up on our front door after 9-11.  He simply has never been pushy about his religious or political views, but he has remained rigidly, enormously convicted that the republican party and all of its minions are best at all levels of government.

So, imagine my shock when he explained to me this weekend that he now believes he has been brainwashed by the republican party, that he considers himself a "recovering republican", and that he will vote for the democratic candidate for president - no matter who it is.  I questioned him closely about his unexpected change of heart.  He explained that he now believes that the war in Iraq is wrong and has been conducted against God's wishes.  I asked him why he didn't believe that earlier - he told me he was "brainwashed" by the fear exuded by the administration.  He believes the most important thing we can do as a nation is to get out of Iraq RIGHT NOW.

What has really bothered him (and I believe led to his change of heart) is his perception of the persecution of Christian Iraqis by Kurds and others.  He also has many reservations about the deaths of so many others (despite the fact that they are not Christians).  I have tried to gently point out that many have been pointing out the immorality of this war on many fronts for many years - he agreed that he has been blind to those arguments, and expressed extreme regret at his positions (really, I thought he would cry while he was discussing this with me).  I am a little concerned that it took his perception that it was CHRISTIANS being persecuted (not all of the other persecutions and deaths of other people) to change his mind. He also pointed out that there were lots of dictators around the globe, and that the only real reason he can now see for going into Iraq in the first place was an attempt to control the oil supply.  Finally, he parroted the position recently raised by many on this site - why in the HELL are we giving additional military aid to countries in that area - and in so doing, promoting and extending additional warfare?

Regardless, "Terry" has turned away from the republican party in this most conservative of states.  If they've lost "Terry" - something I never believed possible - they have lost a portion of their base.