Kevin Nicholson, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin, became the subject of media controversy when it was discovered that his parents, lifelong Democrats, contributed $2700 to his opponent, incumbent Senator Tammy Baldwin.
It’s a media controversy because split political loyalties are fairly common in families today. In Nicholson’s case, he told CNN, “I’m a conservative today not because I was born one, but because of the experience I earned as a Marine in combat, my experience as a husband and father, my choice to be a Christian, the schools I chose to attend and the decision to pursue the career that I have.”
Nicholson was actually a Democrat in his younger days. He was the president of College Democrats of America in 2000. But his experience in the Marine Corps altered his perspective considerably.
Nicholson expounded on his views on Fox News:
We have different worldviews. And we do have different experiences. I mentioned my time in the Marine Corps. If you want to have your illusions ripped away as a young person, go to war. And you’re gonna learn a lot about yourself and you’re gonna learn a lot about the world. You’re gonna see bad guys and exactly what they are and what they want to do to innocent people. One of the things I appreciate about our current president, President Trump, is he understands this and treats bad guys for what they are — people that want to hurt innocent people, innocent Americans, but also our allies and other innocent people across the world. That’s one of the reasons that I have become so strongly pro-life. I have seen innocent life thrown away. I saw that as a young person. These kind of experiences early are extremely searing.
[…]
I mentioned being a husband and a father. Nothing will make you more conservative than raising three kids and doing it in a world that has a whole lot of obstacles and challenges that you need to teach them how to deal with and how to still be successful. That’s my worldview and that’s how it was formed.
Sadly, Nicholson and his parents have had a falling out over his politics — a byproduct of the hysteria and ideological fervor that has gripped America (even before Trump arrived on the scene).
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