Raise your hand if you changed your party identification sometime in your lifetime.
- Thread starter meridian
- Start date
I gradually shifted from GOP to Dem between 2000 and 2008. Since 2008, I've only voted for GOP candidates that I personally knew or at least met with and talked to.
Republican > Non-affiliated.
Started questioning things after 2010 (Tea Party) primaried out some of my preferred legislators....but didn't really shit can the party until this last cycle.
Now just intend to vote for most competent man/woman standing.....political ideologies are a distant 2nd.
Started questioning things after 2010 (Tea Party) primaried out some of my preferred legislators....but didn't really shit can the party until this last cycle.
Now just intend to vote for most competent man/woman standing.....political ideologies are a distant 2nd.
Ambivalent (age 0-2), Anarchist (age 2-4), Socialist (age 5-6), Communist (age 7), unaffiliated moderate (age 8-12), Democrat (age 13-13.5), Republican (age 13.5-17), Libertarian (age 17-24), Republican (25-present).
Lifelong Republican. Switched to Democrat after Trump secured the Republican nomination.
A
anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa
Guest
Oh wait, Trump's brief foray into what seemed on its face to be bipartisanship but was really petty spite momentarily blinded me to one of my changes in my self-identification. Here's the corrected chronology:
Ambivalent (age 0-2), Anarchist (age 2-4), Socialist (age 5-6), Communist (age 7), unaffiliated moderate (age 8-12), Democrat (age 13-13.5), Republican (age 13.5-17), Libertarian (age 17-24), Republican (age 25-53), unaffiliated moderate conservative (age 53-present)
As a kid I liked Reagan and Bush and was crushed that Clinton beat Bush.
I voted for Gore over Bush, but didn't vote in a primary to be officially registered in Indiana until after the Iraq War started, which pushed me from moderate/independent into the Democratic camp.
I voted for Gore over Bush, but didn't vote in a primary to be officially registered in Indiana until after the Iraq War started, which pushed me from moderate/independent into the Democratic camp.
I was raised in a staunch Democratic family and voted that way for my first couple of elections.
I still vote for some Dems in local races...maybe even around 50/50. I've never been all that crazy about our local GOP (come to think of it, I'm not that crazy about the state or national GOP, either).
Yes, it was Pat Buchanan era...what he called the culture wars. Feminism, abortion, gay rights, religion, environmentalism. It was then I realized I was on the wrong side. Oh yeah....and the guns.
Last edited:
I'm a Democrat for universal healthcare and I'm pro gun.
Registered democrat originally because I thought I had to pick one and sure as shit wasn't picking republican. Changed to independent a couple years later when I got around to it. I was busy partying and chasing women, so the whole registration thing was towards the bottom of my to do list at the time. When you really dislike republicans, everyone assumes you're a democrat. Well, I hate Duke, but I'm not a UNC fan.
Never been a registered anything but I tend to solidly vote Republican in national elections (for lack of better options) and then look for competence in local elections.
My general outlook on life tends to be at odds with the Democrats National Platform, so unless that changes (And I do not see that happening anytime soon) I doubt I will vote for them in the foreseeable future. With the way the GOP has been, I am hoping for a competent middle of the road economic party who, even if they do not agree with me on social issues, is ok with sticking with the status quo.
My first vote was in 1996 for Bob Dole. I was 19, didn't know much aside from being raised in a Republican house. Gradually shifted to the left after that.
I tried to vote in 2000, found out I wasn't actually registered at my new address. I haven't missed an election since, and almost every vote has been for a Dem. I did vote in the GOP primary in 2012 for Lugar to try to stop Mourdock (and of course I've always respected Lugar and might have voted for him in the general election).
There are still issues where I can't consider myself a full Democrat. I kinda hate being a partisan. Locally, I can still think about voting or supporting candidates from across the political spectrum. My GOP State Senator seems fine, and I really like my Democratic State Rep. However, the GOP on the national level is a long ways from ever getting my vote again. Their primary race for US Senate in Indiana is going to be an exhausting idea-free mud fight between 2 people who agree on basically everything (and are also wrong about basically everything). Ugh.
I tried to vote in 2000, found out I wasn't actually registered at my new address. I haven't missed an election since, and almost every vote has been for a Dem. I did vote in the GOP primary in 2012 for Lugar to try to stop Mourdock (and of course I've always respected Lugar and might have voted for him in the general election).
There are still issues where I can't consider myself a full Democrat. I kinda hate being a partisan. Locally, I can still think about voting or supporting candidates from across the political spectrum. My GOP State Senator seems fine, and I really like my Democratic State Rep. However, the GOP on the national level is a long ways from ever getting my vote again. Their primary race for US Senate in Indiana is going to be an exhausting idea-free mud fight between 2 people who agree on basically everything (and are also wrong about basically everything). Ugh.
My first major league game was at Wrigley Field. Hank Sauer hit a home run. I was a Cub fan for that season. The following year I saw the White Sox. Minnie Miniso homered. Billy Pierce was cool. Been a Sox fan ever since.
Yes. Baseball is more important than politics.
In a nutshell, it was largely the result of observations of where I thought the country was, where it seemed headed, how it had gotten to where it was, and where it could and should be -- particularly as compared and contrasted to other modern societies. Somewhere along the way, I read a couple of books: Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose" and Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom" -- both of which hit me like a ton of bricks and helped crystallize my thoughts about, among other things, the relationship between people and government in a society, the sources of wealth for a society and the people living within it, the perils of social dependency, etc.
I understand that. What I don't understand is people screaming about being pro life, but simultaneously look to cut healthcare funding for children, the working poor, and the elderly. Then, just to top it off, let everyone own every gun they possibly can.
Not all Republicans are like that. I know a lot of good people that are Republicans. We can talk about our political disagreements in a friendly way. I wish the Cooler was like that.
good people don't vote trump. and if they did, they would long have given up their support for him.
I'm in the military and over half the people I work with are Republicans. I fought side by side with Republicans and Democrats during my time in Iraq and Afghanistan. We don't care about a comrade's political party. The guy that gave me first aid when I was shot was a Republican. Yes there are some good people that voted for Trump. I know some of them. I strongly disagree with their vote for Trump but I can still be friends with them.
We need more people thinking the way you are here and fewer thinking the way toasted is.
The person on this earth I love more than any other is a Democrat. Politics had absolutely nothing to do with my decision to marry her. We've had our share of discussions about political issues -- and, more often than not, we don't agree. It's no big deal and it's never, ever led to any kind of a fight.....that would suggest that our opinions (at that moment, anyway) meant more to us than each other. I respect her opinions and she respects mine -- but, more than that, we simply respect each other enough to not let our disagreements take precedence over our relationship.
Not only do I also have gobs of friends who are Democrats, my business partner is. And, there too, it's never interfered with what we're doing together (in fact, it's probably been beneficial).
Taking politics to a level of personal enmity is how civil wars get started.
Last edited:
Similar threads
