"Daddy....what's a democrat?"

So I'm standing in line, to take my turn voting in our primaries for mayor, and a dad and his darling lil girl step to the side after voting to wait for mom. We still have those old fashion voting booths where you pull a lever and the curtain closes and you flip a lil switch that punches a hole in your vote. Or at least you have to trust that it does.

As they were waiting the little girl asked her dad what the sign taped to the table said. "It says Republican ballots look like this....and Democrats look like this."

"What's a Democrat daddy?"

Daddy was a lil uneasy. He couldn't possibly say what he would like to say, as you don't really know who's standing in line.

"It's another kind of party, honey."

To his relief, mother got out of the booth and they started to leave. Not before "What's a democrat daddy?" caught fire with another little girl standing in line with her parents.

"Daddy...daddy? What's a democrat? What's a democrat, daddy?"

"I don't know honey...I'm still trying to figure that out."

To which I think he got an elbow in his rib from his wife.

It was my turn to step up to the 100 year old women at the table. I stated nice and loud, "DEMOCRAT.....GILBERT"

Hey "daddy", want I should tell you daughter what a DEMOCRAT is? It would go something like this; Democrats are open minded folks who believe that the constitution was written for everyone, not just rich, white guys, like your daddy. The Statue of Liberty is a Democrat. The book she holds in her arm says, "Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free." Democrats are true patriots that don't want to just have it be big business as usual, they want to actually make things better. Like making sure the earth is still able to sustain life when YOU want to have children.

I'd pat her on the head and smile. And then I would smile at daddy...hoping to see just a hint of sweat on his brow.