I could be a Republican, but frankly I don’t have the pessimism required.

If you listen to the die-hard Republicans talk, it never ceases to amaze you how hopeless and awful things have become. It is always heading to a calamity that is just around the corner.

You can take your pick what might cause this end of civilization as we know it. It could be Barack Obama’s election as President of the United States, health care, immigration or people who are of the same sex getting married.

It never ends with some of them. Just when you think you have heard the most ridiculous possible reason the world is coming to an end, they will top it.

Myself, I’m a rather optimistic person and that’s why I have remained a Democrat despite my more conservative leanings. The Democratic Party is the one that believes the best is yet to come and that there is still a great and mighty future ahead of us.

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes gets Democrats in trouble because they bet on a future that can’t possibly be expected to happen. They often spend more now hoping that somehow the deficit will dissipate later.

And while I’m against that type of spending, I am for my fellow man. I believe we should help the poor, sick and unemployed among us even if it makes it more difficult than it has to be for our own lives. I believe we have a responsibility to take care of our fellow man.

Many Republicans love to throw the Bible at you when they have a particular belief and the phrase “he that doesn’t work, doesn’t eat” gets thrown around quite a bit. How easy it is to forget Christ saying, “if you do it to the least of these, you do it to me.”

Now, before my conservative friends result to arms, I readily admit that the system gets taken advantage of. It often allows people to make something that is supposed to be a help a way of life.

My answer? That’s just tough. That’s the way life goes. Sometimes people who don’t need it get help while you’re helping those that do. It stinks, but it’s the way it is.

It bothers me, as a so-called Reagan Democrat, that the party Ronald Reagan led by showing what is best in America has become so obsessed with what’s wrong with America.

I’m pretty conservative fiscally, but fairly liberal socially. I’m a person who has no party to represent my own ideals. I am for gay marriage, but opposed to abortion. I’m against big government, but for helping those who are truly in need.

My lean is towards a strong, small military over a vast, but under-funded one.

Because of those political opinions, I could be a Republican or Democrat. The reason I remain a Democratic leaning (though not always voting) person is because I can’t stand the gloom and doom.

I can’t remember the last time I heard someone who claimed to be a Republican say one good thing about this country and its people. I always feel like they hate us all because we are somehow less than them.

People like Rush Limbaugh spew hate and anger and people of a conservative nature somehow flock to that. It is something I can’t understand. It’s the reason I am a Democrat today and see no reason that would change any time soon.

Thadd White is a Sports Editor and Staff Writer for the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald and Gates County Index. He can be reached via email at thadd.white@r-cnews.com or by telephone at 332-7211.