Thank you for the thoughtful response. For the most part you are correct. I do want to stress though that while I agree with you on many of the issues on a whole, I look at them from a slightly different perspective.

I'll use myself as an example. I live in Florida so I can identify with your friend and insurance. My political leanings have shifted as I have gotten older and had kids. I voted Dem religiously my entire life until the last midterm. I voted for Desantis even though on many issues I disagree with him. My 'it' to continue my theme from my prior post became social issues and more importantly how they affect my kids. I am very much against schools keeping secrets from parents and the sort of gender & race ideology that is encouraged in states like California [I expect to be massively down voted over this]. I have no issue with adults making whatever choices they want in life as consenting adults. Thus Desantis got my vote this round even though I disagree with him on many things, especially his use of government power to target political enemies like Disney (which has blown up in his face). I don't think Desantis is a good candidate for federal power and will vote for Biden again. I will probably vote Desantis again on the state level for the same reason, local control of schools and social issues that in my mind could affect my kids.

You could argue that my concerns are unfounded or pale in comparison to the dangers of climate change. Right now though they are my main concern and I will hold my nose and vote on them. I agree climate change is an issue, I just don't see it as being immediately solvable. Third world countries are going to continue to burn coal and more of it as they seek to expand their economy. I don't see how we can ask them not to while we sit here in the first world and enjoy the benefits of decades of doing just that.

As far as assault rifles, the right sees them as insurance against government coming into homes and dictating to them how they should live their lives. Whether we agree or not, that is their world view or at least some of them. This was compounded when we watched police in other countries assault people in the pandemic over mask wearing. A family member of mine who is highly intelligent and manages billions of $ has what can essentially be called an arsenal for this reason.

Abortion for many is not so much an issue of personal choice but of the wholesale murder of kids. I think you would agree that it should not be a parents choice to kill a 4 year old, just extrapolate to a fetus and that's how they feel. Again, this is their belief and it understandably colors their world view. I don't share this belief but I get it.

Many white republicans see the changes in other countries like race being taken into account in prison sentencing and school admission and see how this affects their kids long term. The mayor of new york city, a democrat just said that all of the immigrants being sent to NYC could be the end of it. Republicans in TX and border states have dealt with this for many years so you can understand how it colors their opinion.

I'm pretty much with you on the military industrial complex part except I view it as a jobs program. We provide work to people who otherwise may not find meaningful employment as well as providing hundreds of thousands of middle class jobs to the engineers that build our weapon systems and the supporting software. If we cut our military spend by half tomorrow, where would all of those jobs go?

Democrats frame violent crime often as a gun issue but so many of the weapons used in shootings in cities like Chicago are illegal weapons. Republicans see these cities and their crime rates as proof that being lax on enforcement and punishment leads to violence. SF is a great example of this as people leave and businesses close up due to rampant theft and safety concerns.

I generally try and put myself in other peoples shoes to understand where they are coming from. I'll vote Biden because I think he is doing a good job on the federal level I don't see any decent candidates of the caliber of McCain or Romney on the Republican side. I'll also try and vote for mixed government in congress as preventing 1 party from having full power prevents the most extreme of either parties ideas being pushed through. Real change requires compromise from both. I'll vote for Republicans on the state level as right now my 'it' requires it.

I am willing to change though as my 'it' changes and as my kids get older, my voting will probably continue to evolve. Everyone has a reason why they vote how they do though, their core issue is just different from yours or mine. I think I may be a little different in that my core issue actually changes. I think for most they just vote how they have always voted and their core issues remain the same.

One thing I very much don't like is how vindictive politics has become in the last decade or so. People hate the other side to the point of violence [left and right]. I cannot condone that. I also see what happened on Jan. 6 as an abomination which is another reason that I will not vote R at the federal level unless the candidate utterly condemns it and the person in power when it happened.