Conservative Smokeshow of the Day

That doesn't mean I suddenly agreed with every Republican politician or every conservative opinion I encountered. There were still plenty of things I questioned. But I began realizing that conservatism wasn't what I had always assumed it was, and that many conservative principles reflected values I had grown up with.

My political views were changing, but my personal life was going through an even bigger transformation. During my second year of college, I went through a really difficult breakup. I had built so much of my happiness around that relationship, and when it ended, I felt completely lost.