Posted on 12/11/2007 4:57:57 AM PST by gridlock
I was looking at a Hillary thread today, which said that if she won the nomination, a lot of Democrats would abandon the Democrat Party. It reminded me of when I finally left the Democrats and "turned to the Dark Side", as my family says. It struck me that FReepers must have a lot of interesting stories about how they came to be here, and that these stories should be told.
Please post your testimony below. I'll start...
I was in seventh grade and the hostages were coming home from Iran.
Reagan helped me realize I was a conservative. Clinton,Carter and the rest made me realize I would never be a democrat and W and the current crop of so called republicans made me a “recovering republican” and pushed me firmly ino the party of “none of the above”.
Ronald Reagan changed the way I look at things.
I'm force to vote Republican, because Democraps are Anti-Christs first, Communists second and Degenerate Reprobates third!
That’s it in a nutshell. Your father was right!
What’s that Mark Twain said... When I was sixteen, I thought my father was an idiot. But when I was 22 with a job and a family, I was amazed at how much he had learned in six short years!
“During the Reagan Revolution. Right after “Read my lips” Bush though, I switched to Libertarian. After “Brady Bill” Bob Dole, “I cannot articulate my premises” Harry Browne, “I sound like a fruitbat” Michael Badnarik, and now “Jorge Arbusto” Bush, I’ve pretty much given up on government all together...”
With your voting record I’d be careful who I called a moron.;^)
I guess then I've never had a heart. I remember almost getting into a fistfight with an older kid when I was 14 over abortion (I was against it).
Anyways I'm not a Republican but I have always voted R, but I have always been a conservative, I believe, as a natural extension and expression of my Christian faith.
I had never been very political before that, being a "Rolling Stone Liberal" because it was "cool". After seeing the mess jimmuh created because naive nincompoops like me actually voted for him in 1976 (first time I ever voted), I started to give RR's message some serious thought and "woke up" so to speak.
***I’ve never become a Republican....I have been a conservative since birth.***
I AGREE!
I’m not a Republican. I’m a Conservative.
When I about seven years old I had a number of chores that generated revenue - 25 cents per week. My younger sister had some chores, too, but fewer, and less difficult. She got a whole dime. (I’m old enough that this was actually real money for a seven year old!)
My Father was either teaching or taking a course on Democracy and Totalitarianism. He described communism to me, and, with my head full of dreams of unearned largess, I said it sounded good to me.
He pooled my allowance with my sister’s and split it and kept the odd cent; I was out 8 cents.
I’ve been a no holds barred, capitalistic, running-dog, death to commies pinkos, socialists, liberals and other fellow travelers, Conservative ever since.
My sister, of course, is a commie pinko liberal.
I was in the military under carter.....that was all it took...
I can understand your frustration with the current Republicans and President Bush in particular. But try to remember that he is primarily concerned with fighting the War on Terror and that his tax cuts are the basis for our current economic recovery.
On the basis of those two things alone, he continues to have my support.
During a high-school lesson on our government, I learned that the “Democrat” party favored loose construction of the constitution and “Republican” party favored strict construction. I thought, “What the heck did they know 200 years ago?” and told my parents that I’d registered Democrat. My mother, aghast, said, “You don’t have a Democrat bone in your body!” Turns out she was right. (Again! Thanks, Mom!)
I’m from a family of fundamentalist, Southern Christian, Yellow Dog Democrats. My grandfathers and father were way more conservative than most of the crop of Republican candidates we have today. Most of the old Democrat politicians in the South were more conservative than todays Republicans. I registered Republican in the late 70’s but I’m thinking about registering independent soon. The Republicans have abused the loyalty of the rank and file in my opinion.
When I was about 8 years old, I asked my dear father what the difference was between Republicans and Democrats. He said, “Republicans believe ‘No Work, No Eat’. Democrats believe that every one gets to eat.” Well, that was simple enough even for a child to understand!
Being born in Massachusetts and actually meeting JFK as a young child, I suppose there was a measure of Democrat in our household, at least from my father. My mom couldn’t stand the Kennedy’s. And I never like Johnson. In 1968, I was 13 and met Richard and Pat Nixon. It was a different time but politics was something to be celebrated as an 8th grader. I felt the process was very exciting. As much as I was disappointed by Watergate, Nixon’s visits to China were much more impressive to me. I also liked Gerald Ford very much and wish he could have won the election (I was still too young to vote but I would have voted for him.) Carter was an absolute disgrace. I cast my first vote for Ronald Reagan and have never looked back. I don’t know if this ramble says I’m a Republican or not but I don’t think it simply coincidence that we’ve had the better candidates.
The question we are faced with is whether or not to try to reform the Republican Party or to abandon it. I submit to you that it is better to reform the Party of Lincoln than to try to start a new one or to try to accomplish anything outside of a political party. That does not mean rolling over for whatever the national party is coming up with, these days. It means actively working for Republicans you support and against Republicans you oppose within the Party.
On election day, though, I am still going to have to run my finger down that (R) column, because the (D) column is always so much worse.
“Unfortunately, he may not be able to avoid it.”
LOL!
My dad’s mom lived (as a young girl) through the depression. She concluded that FDR was the most evil man to inhabit the White House, as he worked to turn the federal government into a mother figure for “the people”. There were 4 magazines in my house as I grew up: mom always had Reader’s Digest and dad always had National Review, Human Events, and MAD Magazine.
I was taught to value what was written, work to understand what the Word of God and the US Constitution say - not impose my desires or opinions upon them.
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