I was raised in Ogden, Utah.  I have always felt that there is something special about Ogden.  Historically, Ogden was a city where immigrants, railroaders, non-Mormons, Republicans, Democrats, and Mormons learned to co-exist.  For the most part, people are tolerant of each other in my hometown. 

I was also influenced by my mission to Sweden.  I started to understand that not everything I had assumed about Sweden was true.  I witnessed an awesome health care system, an awesome educational system, and laws that gave the Swedes an enviable quality of life.  However, I remained a staunch Republican until the Great Recession.

I realized that many of the economic assumptions concerning deregulation were false.  As a amateur historian, I became greatly interested in Marriner S. Eccles (another local Ogdenite).  The revolutionary ideas from this Mormon raised economist clicked with me.  I suddenly realized that many of my assumptions concerning economics were false.  I also realized that at one time political diversity was abundant in the Church, as well as in Utah.  Sometime in 2009, I changed political parties.  I've never looked back.