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I have been thinking about this for a time now and I wonder what makes a person swing to the Left or Right in their politics?
Was it your upbringing?
Did your parents/friends influence you?
Did your school/college open your eyes one way or the other?
Did a stint in the military change your view?
How about where you live, did that have any influence?
I am very curious because as we have seen from this past election, actions from groups that claim to be Left or Right across the country and debates here on CD that there is a hard line between Democrats and Republicans. Someones political sway shouldn't matter but on closer inspection and probing it really is amazing how one persons brain can be so different then another. There is a joke that a Hillary or Trump supporter has drank the Kool aide and sometimes it does seem like there has been a chemical change in the brain of a person who flat out cannot see your differing view.
I have also considered my own life and the lives of people I know and sometimes their politics don't line up the way you think they would.
for example. My wife knows a woman who was raised with money in a very Republican household. She went to the best schools in Europe and she has a job where she works with celebrities and rich people yet she is a die hard over the top Democrat. How did that happen?
My wife was born and raised in Ireland and over there they more or less had a socialist upbringing that leaned to Democrat yet she has a business mind for capitalism and is much more of a Republican then a Democrat. Her younger brother would be a crazy socialist/ Democrat.
Out to dinner the other night with 2 gay guys they hate Trump but love Warren and Hillary. We had a nice debate about Trump and I hope they are still friends with my wife and I but boy their mindset of life and politics is nearly a full 180 degrees from ours.
Another friend and his wife love Hillary and on election night they actually thought they were going to have to go to the emergency room they were in such shock.
How did these people get this way?
There are so many others and some have surprised me when I had them pegged for Democrats yet they voted for Trump and vice versa.
Personally I lean to the Right and always have but my sister was a Bernie fan. How does that happen?
Whether you are a Dem or Rep or independent what would you say was the pivotal moment in your life that led you to favor one party over the other?
I was born and raised in a Republican family. I considered myself Republican up through about 2010.
I don't feel I've changed, I feel that the Republicans have. Right now, I don't really identify as anything because I find so much objectionable about each. But since I voted for Obama in 2012 and would NOT vote for Trump, I am considered a flaming liberal here. I'm not.
I'm not sure what you mean by "How did these people get this way?" The Republican party has traditionally been anti-gay, so it makes sense that your gay friends would be Democrats. Your friends who love Hillary were so shocked - as millions of us were - first because polls had indicated a Hillary win, and second because it was clear to us that Trump is an ignorant, racist, sexist, money-grubbing, lying, self-aggrandizing bully.
I'd guess that at least 70% of the population inherits their party affiliation. My parents were both Democrats, so that was my natural path, although I had no interest in politics. However, as I became older and better informed, it became clearer to me why I was a Democrat. There was no pivotal moment.
It turns out that although there are many exceptions, people tend to belong to the political party of their parents.
My depression-era parents were Ds, and the trope in our household was that Ds were the party of the "little guy". They were strong supporters of Social Security and other regulations and programs that protected ordinary workers and encouraged upward mobility.
They switched parties to vote for Nixon, and stayed Rs for the rest of their respective lives. This switch was a big deal for them, and it occurred mainly because of the Vietnam War - they had concerns over Nixon's character, but voted for him anyway.
I stayed D, because even though the Ds at the time were not a bunch of peaceniks, their platform is often a bit better than Rs on war/defense issues. By the late 60's, Ds were also more likely to support black civil rights, and this was HUGE for me, while my parents honestly didn't see what the big deal was. I have registered as something other than D several times, in order to vote for a more liberal candidate.
I was in Mass when I first graduated from college. I remember somebody at work thought I should be a Democrat, since Mass is Dem heavy, Barney Frank was running for Congress, I forget which. So I just said I was a Republican just to spite him. After I left Mass, I resided in OC, which was heavy Republican at the time. Plus maybe I was working at defense company under Ronald Reagan's Stars War project, that must have cemented it. My whole family has voted Democrat for a few years now. I'm the only one left standing in my immediate household.
I was born and raised in a Republican family. I considered myself Republican up through about 2010.
I don't feel I've changed, I feel that the Republicans have. Right now, I don't really identify as anything because I find so much objectionable about each. But since I voted for Obama in 2012 and would NOT vote for Trump, I am considered a flaming liberal here. I'm not.
This....
I was a Republican up until 2009. The GOP's no longer represents conservative values.
I can't be a democrat either because they don't represent anything other than their party.
Now I am a right leaning independent.
I was always a Republican, though we never talked about politics in my household. I don't think my parents ever voted.
My last Republican vote was for George W. Voted for Kerry and then Obama. I'm not fond of politics on either side, but I can identify more with Democrats than Republicans. I don't think anyone should have a free lunch, but I do think they should get help if they need it. I also am very environmentally conscious. However, I don't check all the boxes of being a liberal.
I never really thought there was much difference between the two parties, and I still don't as far as all of them looking out for their best interests. However, I cannot sit idly by while this person who was elected as president does all in his power to undermine every good thing about this country. He has brought in people for his cabinet who are the antithesis of everything the departments stand for. He is a bigot, a mysogonist, an egotistical narcissist. He has no idea how government is run. And for those who think it's great because he is trying to run America like a business, they might want to think again. Most of his endeavors have ended in bankruptcy. If any other president in history had acted this way, and most certainly if there were a Democractic president in the White House acting like this, you better believe the GOP would be doing everything they could to remove him.
Trump is the absolute worst thing that could have happened to our country. I would never have given a second thought to a Romney, Rubio or even a Cruz, although I wouldn't have been happy with any of them. But I would have moved on. Trump is an embarrassment to our nation, a laughingstock to the world, and one of the most ignorant, incompetent men I have ever seen in public office.
Whether you are a Dem or Rep or independent what would you say was the pivotal moment in your life that led you to favor one party over the other?
The idea that certain groups or ethnicities deserve special rights and protections never made much sense to me. I believe that everybody, regardless of their background, has to struggle and sacrifice in life in order to be successful.
I also believe that the U.S. is and should remain an exceptional country and the #1 country in the world.
So, I'd say these core values form my political persuasion more than anything else.
My parents were Republicans who adored Reagan. I came of age during the Viet Nam War when innocent kids were being sent over to kill other innocent people and we didn't even know why. The Democratic party seemed to fit with how I felt.
I've remained a Democrat ever since but I'm not for illegals. I am for more gun control and for single payer health insurance. I'm for helping people but not for their entire lives unless they are disabled. I'm not against people who have to be on food stamps. I am against drugs.
It comes from the way you were raised plus reading and thinking. My parents were very kind hearted people and I don't think they'd be Republicans if they were alive today.
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