You heard that right. I'm here today to praise the Democratic Party. They may have betrayed my 56 years of loyalty; they may have cut their members off from the democratic process by keeping opponents of President Biden off the primary ballots, or as in the case of Florida, cancelling the primaries altogether so we couldn't even write in an alternative; they may be leading our country to the brink of disaster and beyond—but one thing they have done really well:
As soon as I switched my party affiliation, they stopped harassing me.
True, I would have appreciated a little "we're sorry to see you go" and "what led you to leave us?" rather than feeling as if they were delighted to have me off their membership rolls. It reminds me of my quarrel with Penzey's Spices, which clearly and openly stated that if our political and social views did not align with theirs, they did not care about having our business. Or the church that kicked us out, changed the locks, and cut off communication. It was not a smart response in any of these cases, and certainly not kind—bear in mind that all three of these organizations brag about their supposed compassion—but if they don't want my votes/membership/business, that's their problem.
But I am grateful for this current snub. I did appreciate getting information from all sides in the mail, which I find helpful for making voting decisions. But I resent the intrusive phone calls and text messages, which are now exclusively from the Republicans. When I was a Democrat, they came from both parties. I wish I could say that the volume has been cut in half now, but alas that does not appear to be the case.
It's not going to change how I vote, but I can't deny that this restores in me a tiny bit of gratitude to my former party.
