As the title indicates, I've grown up around politics and politicians. This has led me to form many opinions, the first of which is: I don't want to be a politician. I thought I might be interested at one point in my life, but it takes so much time and energy and involves opening yourself to so much criticism that I have no desire to do it. But I still have an interest in politics, and I'm fascinated by the ways things play out for the family members of those in politics.
I've been thinking about creating this space for a while now--a space to talk about politics, organize my thoughts, examine the roles of spouses and children in the political realm and beyond, and to review some books. (The title of my blog is, in fact, a play off of one of my favorite books as an adolescent, The President's Daughter by Ellen Emerson White.) But what spurred me to start it now was my dad's latest political action. He is currently a Common Pleas Court Judge, and he very publicly recused himself from a death penalty case, issuing a 135-page statement explaining his reasons.
I am very, very proud of him. This was the right thing to do, even if it may end his career as a judge. My dad is a man of incredible integrity, and I am always amazed by how he maintains that integrity in the face of a system that does not reward it. I remember going to lunch with him and a group of his political colleagues when I was maybe 12 years old. They harangued him throughout the lunch telling him he needed to learn to lie, to be more practical, and to think about how to win elections and get money. Honestly, that lunch may have been the end of any political aspirations I held. But my dad continued on his own path. It has cost him at least one election. But he does what he believes in, and unfortunately, that seems to be a rare commodity in politics these days.
