Why I WAS A Democrat

I was asked, after a public Q&A tonight of six Republican candidates for the Georgia House, and me, the only Democrat, "Why are you a Democrat? Your answers were just as Conservative as the [six] Republicans?"
Here is my answer.
Before I entered the military, I was a Democrat of the Carl Sanders era. I was even a 1964 charter member of his Youth Council. During my 23 years of military service, I was apolitical. I didn’t particularly lean to one party or the other. After all, I was a commissioned officer. When I retired from the military I began a new career in education. When I settled in Georgia, Zell Miller was Governor and I had to love what he did, or tried to do, for education, especially the HOPE scholarship. Now, I did vote for Sonny Perdue twice because he was a fellow graduate from high school in Warner Robins, Georgia. In fact, our last two High School reunions were held at the Governor's Mansion. But, in 2010, having become disenchanted with the intrigue reported by our local newspapers within our County Government, I decided it was time I offered my services. That meant, practically, due to the stringent requirements to get on a ballot as an Independent, I had to run as either a Democrat or Republican - decision time. Well, I could read the tea leaves as well as anyone else in 2010. So, I first explored the Republican Party in Hall County. I discovered that I had to swear an oath to the party and found that to be inconsistent with my oath as a commissioned officer (although retired, I retain my commission). In addition, when I contacted the party leadership, they were cold to my running as three people were already competing for the Republican nomination. (Quite frankly, I was also a good bit irritated by the fact that they used, and at last check still use, an obviously purposefully mutilated plastic American flag as the background of their Web site). Well, being a math teacher, I decided I needed to make a mathematical decision. So, I took the party platforms from both the Democratic and Republican Parties at the time, listed each sentence one at a time, discarded all the "fluff" sentences that did not state a position, then, one by one, checked off the remaining sentences with which I agreed. When I finished, I found that I had checked off 54% of the Republican sentences and 58% of the Democratic sentences. You see, they are both relative close in the belief in America and the strength of the American people. So, I was clearly, and mathematically, a Democrat by 4%. I was told by a Professor of Political Science at the University of Georgia that this just meant I was like most people in the United States. I can't think of a better honor than that, can you? So, that, and the fact that the Hall County Democratic Party freely accepted me, knowing my conservative fiscal beliefs, clinched the deal. Thus, I ran as a Democrat.