Are you a Democrat Because of Your Family is Democrats?

[tmorelli415]

How much do you think political values have to do with a person's family leanings? Do most people just follow their parents?

I grew up in an almost exclusively conservative Republican town. Seems like all the people I know from there just followed their parents' lead and never questioned their party identification. Is it the same for people who grew up in progressive Democrat areas?

[BlakeB]

1. Nope, both of my parents are...

registered Republicans that became Republicans in the Reagan era. I was brought up hearing my family bash Clinton and such, but the funny thing is that during the 2000 election they began to snap out of it. And they are now what I would consider liberals. They voted for Kerry in 04 and hate Bush, the corrupt Republicunts, and the Rightwing Media just as much as me. If only 4-5 million more Americans would wake up, eh?

[Piperay]

2. No, I came from a repug family and

was a registered repug myself but when Raygun got in I got turned off and so did the rest my family, we are Democrats now.

[Devlzown]

3. My grandparents and greats were

all Democrats. My parents have voted Dem and Repub. Neither has voted for BushII, so I give them credit for that.

[Melodybe]

5. Nope, I'm a democrat cause my parents taught me the importance of

being decent to other people.

Sure they are both big libs, but dad voted for George Sr in 88 and Perot in 92. Since then he voted Nader (at my request, sorry I was mislead and I live in MS anyway) in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. Mom votes straight dem every time.

Grandparents on mom's side are big dems and my dad's side of the family are mostly poor asshole rednecks, with a few open minded folks sprinkled in. They were PROUD to vote for Bush. However, I should probably head to the next reunion, I'm guessing they are probably pissed about gas prices, and they love to hate rich people.

[lwin]

4. I come from a mixed family

Dad is a hardcore Repug, Mom was a Republican until Nixon, when she said "that man will do anything to get elected" and changed her registration to Dem. I'm one of three kids. I'm obviously rabidly Dem, my oldest sister is apolitical and my other sister calls herself a "Goldwater Republican". She's an atheist, but a hardcore rightwing & Shrub supporter. Her husband is a hardcore liberal Dem....they've been happily married for 20 years. All their kids are skewing Dem. Go figure.

[tenshi816]

6. My family is full of RW fundie Republicans.

I'm the only Democrat, and have felt that way since before I was old enough to vote. In fact, I had Democratic ideals when I was just a child, before I even knew there were political parties. Becoming a Democrat was simply a natural progression to me. I'm a Democrat because Democrats care about more than just self-self-self.

I have no idea how I turned out this way, other than to say that I picked up on the beliefs my parents, their friends and the rest of my family held and somehow instinctively knew they were wrong. More than simply wrong - they were small-minded, mean and full of false patriotism.

People in my family think that I'm the one who's misinformed and wrong-headed, and I'm considered the over-educated black sheep. (On a side note, isn't is funny how often it comes up that RW fundies are afraid of too much education, because it causes people to ask questions?)

Edited for punctuation.

[cornermouse]

7. Is it possible that the current leaders of the republican party have

become so extreme that they have moved far enough away from a certain percentage of their core voter's values to cause those people to leave the republican party?

It may sound like a contradiction in today's politics, but overall I'm a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. Today's republicans have pretty much become the party of war, corporations, and military.

[BlakeB]

8. I think it is very possible.

And I think there has been rumblings of traditional conservatives and moderates shying away from Bush and his policies. And I, like you, am rather fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

[tmorelli415]

9. Fiscally Conservative?

I've never really understood that term. It has come to mean 'fiscal responsibility' but I think it was engineered as such by Republicans to make liberals sound fiscally irresponsible.

I mean, since when did 'fiscally liberal' mean that you favored irrespoonsible spending? Traditionally, liberals and progressives have a history of fiscal responsibility with the exception of some time in the 70s and early 80s.

I know what my friends mean when they say 'fiscally conservative' but we need to recognize that we're using deliberate language constructs of the right when we say that. It really is not accurate and hurts us because Democrats are objectively better at balancing the budget and achieving economic growth (historical fact).

We should use the term 'fiscally responsible' as we reclaim the proud word 'liberal'. What do you think?

[BlakeB]

12. Good point.

I couldn't have put it any better.

[radfringe]

10. not really

both my parents were fairly a-political while I was growing up

my father did join the repug party after reagan - then un-joined under poppy bush. He calls himself a conservative, and is a registered independent.

my mom did have "liberal leanings" - now she's leaning more conservative, but is still a registered independent

I was an "independent" for many years, but joined the Dems about 20 years ago over local issues

My brother and sister are just as liberal as I am - not sure if they are registered Dems or Independents

[American in Asia]

11. Nope...

My parents and siblings are fundie types.

My father's parents were also Republicans, but of the old-fashioned kind!

My mother's parents were working class Democrats from a small town in WV, though they never talked about politics.

I started out as a Republican too - voted for Reagan in my first election (sadly misguided), but snapped out of it by the time of Bush, Sr. and have been a registered Democrat ever since.

[Pool Hall Ace]

13. Both of my parents were Democrats.

But they did teach me to think for myself, which I do.

If I favored government-sanctioned religion shoved down everyone's throats, unregulated corporations, severely limited personal liberties, and endless war, I wouldn't hesitate to become a Republican.

[CWebster]

14. In the sense that Democratic values were instilled

into my world view by my family. That probably accounts for my intensely negative reaction to the trojan horse take-over of the "New Democrats" who reject traditional Democratic values in their embrace of the Right as the conventional model.

[sendero]

15. My parents..

.... were pretty much apolitical when I was a kiddo, although I do remember my Dad cried the day Kennedy was shot.

Now, they are Fox-swilling dumbasses (and I mean that in a loving way). I've tried to get them to open their eyes but they listen to all that crap and they buy it hook line and sinker. The last time we got on the subject, I got wound up and spewed for 5 minutes. At this point, I've resolved to never bother talking politics with them again, at 83 my father is not going to do any new thinking.

[Totally Committed]

16. My family of origin...

were all first generation Sicilians who were very conservative Catholics and Republicans. Only the patriarch of the family, Grandpa, was a Democrat. He and I always palled-around together -- he took me with him everywhere (even when he was volunteering for political campaigns).

When I was a young girl, he brought me to stuff envelopes with him for the Kennedy for President Campaign. One afternoon, JFK walked into the Boston Headquarters while we were there, and I got to shake his hand.

Later on, I am proud to say, my Grandpa was with me at several sit-ins and marches during the Vietnam War before he died.

I feel I got a lot of my Liberalism and belief-system from him, but some (I have to admit) is due to a wild streak right down the middle of my core. I think I was born with it... a sort of rebel yell that never stops. LOL!

TC

[d_b]

17. I came from a NUTCASE RW household

Namely my dad being the nutcase. My mom is a moderate Democrat.

My dad is the kind of guy who, in the 90's, would be cleaning his gun and then point it at the television when Bill Clinton would speak.

Yea.

[zulchzulu]

18. My parents became Republicans with Nixon in 1968

A couple of my siblings are Republicans...moderate mostly...

[blondeatlast]

19. I come from a long, long line of yellow dog Democrats and am

damn proud of my political pedigree!

[Donna Zen]

20. A thinking adult

In answering the question, I would have to say, "how would I know?" Ones childhood experiences are bound to have an effect when forming a philosophy, and yet, I would also speculate that given the nature of the republican party, I chose to stand in opposition to its ideology. I'm a thinking adult and a liberal by choice.

My mother was an elected Democratic official for years, but because of his job, my father was a registered republican who voted Democratic every time. My great-uncle, one of Roosevelt's boys, served in that administration. Sadly, many of my cousins have left the Democratic party because they perceive it as corrupt, and self-interested.

Locally, I am in agreement with the Democratic Party's positions, but the higher up the ladder I look, the more disenchanted I become. Knowing what you stand for makes it easier to say what you mean. The national party seems lost in money and locked into the power brokers' wallets making them seem small and cynical. There are of course the bright-lights like Boxer, Feingold, Conyers, and others who keep me here. The MSM portrays them as, gasp, "liberal" when they are actually just elected officials who do their job.

That's it. I want to belong to party represented by people who do their job, even when I don't agree with everyone of their decisions, as opposed to the vast majority from both sides of the aisle, who just grovel before the multinationals, and elbow their way to the trough.

[rhett o rick]

21. Serious question from a newbie. Do you have to be a Democrat to belong

here? I consider myself a moderate middle-class anti-reich-wing person. Some Democrats are heroes but some are also bought and paid for by the same big money supporting *.

[seabeyond]

22. i am not a democrat or a republican, my family is all repug

i am not a part of any party. i dont hold to any line. but i am certainly including myself in the democratic party the last handful of years to go after bushco. i say we and my fellow dems, often

[SteppingRazor]

23. I'm registered Independent, but very liberal. Parents both Republicans

Like many people, they switched parties to the party of wealth and privilege once they made enough money. But I still love'em! :)