I voted for Lou Dobbs in 2008.

Democrats lost their economic message decades ago, and still haven't found their way!

NOTE: Originally posted December 9th, 2016

I'm going to admit something that only three people know. In 2008, I wrote in Lou Dobbs for president.

The reason I did so was because I was (and still am) more conservative on immigration, and I was against trade deals like NAFTA. The reason I did not vote for Obama was that as an Illinois native, I felt Obama had done nothing for the State of Illinois in the US Senate except run for president. Therefore, why would he do anything for the country as a whole? Additionally, I supported John Edwards in the Democratic primaries because I saw him as the only candidate advocating against unfair free trade policies. At the time immigration and trade policies were my most important issues (since reforming one and not the other doesn't make sense), and not a single candidate addressed both. Therefore, I voted for Dobbs.

Still, I was not the only one "of the left" that had this opinion. Right before the election, Dobbs interviewed New Democratic Party leader, and one of my all-time favorite politicians, Jack Layton. For those of you who are not familiar with Canadian politics, Layton would never be confused with someone who is on the right of the political specturm, or even in the dead center of it. Yet Dobbs and Layton saw eye-to-eye on the issue of free trade (though immigration is a different story, since Layton's widow is a Chinese immigrant). Still, there was that common bond, a bond in which explained my view on NAFTA.

So why, over the last eight years, have I lied about who I voted for in 2008, and instead said I voted for the Green Party and Ralph Nader? Pure and simple, it was liberal backlash. Just saying that you supported strong immigration policies automatically equates to 'racism' in the minds of many activist liberals, even if someone's views on the subject are driven by economic factors.