What a varied background you have LV101.
I can definitely see why it seemed so obvious siding with the Dems regarding Vietnam - especially given the area of San Francisco.
I see a lot of good on both sides. I am pro choice for example but I am not in favor of willy-nilly mass immigration without a controlled and measured plan. I am also not in favor of huge government or half our country being on disability - many also addicted to prescription drugs (dont even get me started on my thoughts about big Pharma and how it is eroding American society) and with relatively minor problems that they could work if it were not so easy not to.
I have taken some of the tests on here that help a person define their political views and they keep evolving as I evolve. It helps that I have 2 children, both former pioneers who have left the JWs also and one of them embraces Buddhism and the other is a Libertarian.
I am currently reading the book "The Art of War" and while watching the news (as you mentioned above) I am looking for the principals in the book as they are being applied in the campaigning. Makes it more enlightening for me!