Where you always a liberal/democrat or did you see the light?

[NJmaverick]

Did you always consider yourself a liberal/Democrat? If no, what made you change your views?

[raccoon]

1. I saw the light, I saw the li-i-ight.

Disability.

[ipfilter]

2. * was the final straw for me.

After some deep introspection I realized I was actually a liberal at heart.

[NJmaverick]

13. Well I guess * was responsible for one good thing

[MrCoffee]

3. Since August 3, 1981

I was 5 years old.

[Beer Snob-50]

4. my father was an independent

althogh a conservative at heart. i was for the longest time (pissed him off when i voted for carter instead of reagan in my first presidental election) but then i saw what the new republicans were like when they ran things (newt gingrich et al) and became a democrat then.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. i was born reading marx

[applegrove]

6. I was always a liberal. My first election I voted for a progressive conservative. I was just

a pushover at the time. Since then I have voted either Liberal or NDP. Depends who the leader of the party is.

[guitar man]

7. I was an independent

I was an independent from the time I first registered in '82 until I registered Dem in late '03. I had pretty much turned Dem in '00 when I voted a straight D ticket, first straight ticket I ever voted. Registering in '03 just cemented what I'd been thinking for quite a while already. :hi:

[charlie and algernon]

8. I followed my parents' lead and supported Bush Sr over Clinton

of course I was a wee lad at the time :)

It was the republicans' treatment of Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal that pushed a more mature me over to the Democrats. They went WAY to far with that.

[Bertha Venation]

9. I believe in NO correlation between politics and Christianity, but

I was a true believer - Republican - until I began to question my unquestioning faith in God.

[SoxFan]

10. Always a Democrat

Probably not a "liberal" by DU standards, but always a Democrat of the HST/JFK stripe.

[lazyriver]

11. After college I moved to the right to become a liberal Independent.

I was an ultra liberal environmentalist/anarchist before that. I switched to a registered Democrat after joining DU because I wanted to caucus for Kucinich in this last primary...sadly never got the chance.

[Arugula Latte]

12. My parents were moderate Repubs in the 70s and therefore I was, too.

Then that fucking idiot douchebag Reagan came along, and I saw instantly that he was an evil scumbucket numbnuts asshole. I was 14 in 1980, and I was strongly pro-choice and pro-environment and the aforementioned dickhead was not. (Sorry to mince words). I've been a liberal ever since.

I argued with my Dad, who wasn't crazy about Reagan but thought he was the better choice. Both parents voted for him in '80. In '84, only my Dad voted for him. By '92, they both voted for Clinton. My Dad died a few years ago, but my mom is a very liberal Democrat now.

[yellowdogintexas]

14. born a Democrat and liberal. nt

[sniffa]

15. No

Life experience changed me... and going away to college.

[wickerwoman]

16. I was a lazy liberal.

My parents are union dems... strong on labor rights, so so on race relations, pretty behind the times on women's and gay rights.

I didn't really follow politics that actively until Bush stole the election in 1999. I think Gore was the first president I voted for (although I might have voted for Clinton once.) That was my "see the light" moment. If you don't let your progressive lights shine, the cockroaches shit all over everything.

[graywarrior]

17. My parents were insane Boston democrats

I followed in their footsteps.

[trof]

18. The 2000 sElection.

I considered myself to be an 'independent' until then, although I'd never voted for a republicant for president, beginning with Nixon-McGovern.
The 2000 debacle horrified and disgusted me.
That's when I became a yella dawg.
For ever.

[CBGLuthier]

19. I have always been a liberal/progressive

I still refuse to identify or register as a democrat. Have never voted in a primary election in my life.

[MorningGlow]

20. I was apolitical most of my life

Registered Dem but never paid attention to politics. Then I started working at a local news station...in time for the 2000 elections and Sept. 11. The rest is history. And I thank the gods that Bushweenie is history.

[Jamastiene]

21. First time I ever voted, I voted for Dukakis in 1988 for President.

I have always been a Democrat.

[Mollis]

22. When I was younger I just listened to my parents.

Once I got old enough to realize everything, I definently turned liberal. Before I was nothing.

[Midlodemocrat]

23. Born to the most liberal parents on the planet.

All five of us are uber lefties. In fact, we're a little to the left of Marx.

[PassingFair]

24. My parents never talked much about politics....BUT

They ALWAYS voted for Democrats.

I have NEVER voted for a Republican,
unless he was a DINO and I had no
choice.

...which happens more times than I
care to total.

[av8rdave]

25. I saw the light

*'s Daddy converted me to the Democratic party

[DeepBlueC]

26. always a Democrat

as were my parents and grandparents.

[flvegan]

27. Born republican, hated politics until I was around 22.

When I took interest, I realized just how stupid republican politics are. My evolution to high level bleeding heart liberal douchebag started then.

[dana_b]

28. I always had liberal tendencies but I didn't care

about politics until the Iraq war. Then I started to wake up.

[Zavulon]

29. Was a Republican until 1992.

After seeing four years of Bush 41, couldn't handle it anymore. Voted for Clinton and never looked back.

[Wapsie B]

30. I was a conservative Protestant growing up,

so far to the right Jerry Falwell would've blushed. I stood by the gop through Watergate. But Iran-Contra made me start to question things. Arms for hostages, CIA drug running, Ollie North and the gang were too much for me to accept.

[mwooldri]

31. I guess you could say I started out with the SDP.

They joined the Liberals in the Alliance. Now Liberal Democrats.

Then I moved here. My one whacko moment was thinking that Bush would be better than Gore in 1999/2000 but then I just got here and didnt really know about US politics that much. I considered Clinton too much like a Conservative, and cos I had plenty of sex scandals with the UK conservatives in the 1990s I saw Gore allied with Clinton but Bush being clean on the "sex front".

Wanted Kerry to win in 2004. Was denied.

Actually did a little something in 2008.

Thank you George W Bush for getting somewhat politically active again.

Mark.

[OmahaBlueDog]

32. I've always been a Democrat

On this site, I'm considered to be somewhere on the political spectrum near Orrin Hatch

My Republican friends think I'm somewhere to the left of Mao

I actually think of myself as a Rockefeller Republican who does not have a party to join. Fiscally, I'm pretty moderate to conservative. Socially, I'm a moderate to liberal.

[RiffRandell]

33. Always.

I was a teen in the eighties, and remember watching the news with my parents every night. They despised Reagan----my Mom used to say he will go down as the worst president in history----now she says he's number 2 behind Bush.

[sammythecat]

34. Hardwired as a Democrat

[DarkTirade]

35. I grew up in FL during a time when Jeb was running the state.

And there were several right-wing megachurches that had headquarters in my area, although they've been filtering out to more right-wing states the last 20 years or so.
So basically by the time I was old enough to start thinking about politics, I'd already seen how damaging the GOP, neocons (although I didn't know the term until later) and right-wing religion and politics could be.

[Aristus]

36. Raised in a liberal family. Was a fan of Reagan (because I didn't know a fucking thing

about politics, that's why!) and voted for Bush, Sr. twice. Voted for Clinton in 1996, swerved hard left during the Lewinsky fiasco, and voted for Al Gore in 2000; that was the year I adopted my personal political motto:

"Liberal till I DIE, motherfuckers!" B-)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

37. Actually, liberal/democrat moniker is not far enough left for me...

I make a lot of concessions in order to hang with you guys :D

[Redneck Socialist]

38. My father made me a republican, dope made me a libertarian...

...the environment made me a Democrat.

[elshiva]

39. Always a liberal.

[BarenakedLady]

40. Born and raised

:D

[murielm99]

41. Always.

Politics runs in my family. We have always been Democrats, and active in party politics.

[Lucian]

42. I've always been a liberal.

My first election I could vote in was 2000, and I voted for Al Gore (the man who won).

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

43. became politically aware in '92 at age 15

It was combination of the Clinton campaign and seeing how evil those GOP fuckers were at their '92 convention.

Then Bill sold us out, took policy advice from Dick Morris, and sent me off to Naderland for a while.

And now Obama's brought me back.

[old mark]

44. I think I was born a liberal Democrat, haven't changed much over the years,

although some here consider me a vile RW fascist because I am a pro-gun Democrat.


mark

[RebelOne]

45. Have always been a Democrat.

I just turned of legal age and voted for Kennedy. Have voted only Democrat since.

[hobbit709]

46. I've toned down a bit

In my youth I was a radical/anarchist of the extreme leftwing persuasion.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

47. I always leaned Democrat even as a (informed) kid, but I first registered as an independent..

...and I....ssshhhh....sat out the 2000 election......:hide: (But don't worry, I was registered in Maryland at the time, not Florida, so before you kill me....)

Before I could vote, I do remember my dad constantly cursing Reagan and I think that wore off on me, although I had no idea as to his policies or anything at that time. In 1988, the family took up the Dukakis cause to tragic results...in my class mock election, I think I was one of only a couple who voted for him over Bush Sr.

I do remember being excited about Clinton being elected and having a Democratic president in office after 12 years of Republicans. Still, I grew sort of apathetic to everything political as Clinton term wore on and while I still respected the man, being impressionable I think I grew into the peer pressure that we were somehow supposed to be embarassed as a country because he had an affair and lied about it. Even though in retrospect Clinton has become a personal hero of mine (I guess I didn't fully appreciate him when he was in office) and what the Republicans did to Clinton while in office was atrocious.

After I turned 18, I registered independent to be, well, independent. I didn't want any political party to tell me how to think. But then when the next primary came around, I remembered feeling a little removed from the process, so I registered Democrat (knowing I would never register Republican). Still, in 2000 I remembered disagreeing with Gore on a social issue or two (given that I've always been something of a social moderate) and stupid me, not seeing the forest through the trees, I sat out on 2000 as a matter of protest (even though I was certainly rooting for Gore to win).

It wasn't long after that that things began to gel for me politically. Bush got "elected" and started to stink up the White House, even prior to Sept. 11th. Even though I think she's recently gone off the deep end professionally, I started listening to Randi Rhodes and to her credit she helped enlighten my passions. By early 2002 when Bush began to step up his efforts to invade Iraq I had fully turned the corner and was clamouring for a more liberal and progressive country.