FORMER LIBERAL FReepers...I have a theory.

bigjoesaddle

[bigjoesaddle]

I am a former Liberal that voted for Clinton the first time (head droopong in shame), and I wonder how many other people like me there are out there.

Also, I have a theory to discuss. I have NEVER met a person who grew up a Conservative, then switched to the Democrat Party AFTER COLLEGE! Many switch during college, because of the rebellion aspect of going against their "Dads politics", etc, but after entering the real world, a person NEVER switches to Liberal. The theory basicly is that many Liberals, no matter how old they are, are STILL rebelling, and basicly can't see that their ways never succeed.

There is also the belief that "I am a good person, and all I want to do is good for the world and the people in the world, THEREFORE EVERYTHING I BELIEVE IS RIGHT, BECAUSE IT IS BASSED ON "GOODNESS". They don't realise that, just because you are "good", doesn't mean you're "right".

[CyberCowboy777]

I'll take a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale!

Thanks

[CyberCowboy777]

Although it is warm today.....

[wideawake]

It's funny. When I was eight, my father asked me if I wanted to come along with him one weekend while he was distributing literature for Jimmy Carter. I told him I didn't even know what Carter stood for - how could I help "sell" him to people?

My father said you're absolutely right, there's going to be a debate this week - you can stay up and watch it and see what you think.

I remember watching Ronald Reagan and thinking "this guy is absolutely right and Carter doesn't make any sense!" I told my Dad he should give out flyers for Reagan instead. He declined.

Of course, 20+ years later, Bill Clinton finally got on my Dad's last nerve and he's been quietly Republican since 1992.

[ijcr]

The theory falls flat when you look at the Media,Lawyers,Federal,State and munincipal employees.

[Grit]

Cool, looks like we're having a party!
For B4B:

Xena, The boys are all waiting for a story. However, if you are not too proud of your youthful indiscretions, we'll understand.

[SoDak]

The only presidents I knew about before Reagan were Carter and Nixon. I didn't turn 18 til 1984. Nixon left office in disgrace, then Carter made us feel like America's best days were behind her. Reagan came to prominence in the run against Carter, and when I heard Reagan speak to his convention, it was like a new day dawning for the country. His optimism was so incredibly contagious, and he made me feel so proud to be American. My first voting year was 1984, and it felt good to mark my ballot for the man I'll always consider Mr. President.

I had one of the younger men in my office the other day telling me that "everytime Republicans get the presidency, the economy goes south". We had a little history lesson on just how awful the economy was during Carter.

[jjm2111]

Imagine a Goth Conservative.

[Bikers4Bush]

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is my second favorite beer just behind Fosters, I drink Miller Lite out of necessity.

I don't know if she was that goth, in another post she says she wasn't even cool enough to listen to The Sisters Of Mercy. I'm thinking she may have been more Type O Negative, just shy of gruesomely goth.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

I wasn't a good goth; I was more like a Death Squad member.

??? You lost me, there. (I'm hoping you don't mean Puritan Death Squad... ick!!).

White makeup, black clothes, dark red lipstick, lots of black eyeliner . . . I wasn't even cool enough for Sisters of Mercy.

Aw, shucks... according to the Sisters, they ain't Goths either. ;-)

We are the Sisters of Mercy, and we are a rock'n'roll band!! -- Sisters, Dark Harvest Festival - Philadelphia, 1997

So, you're in good company. (grin)

[x]

People do tend to act "left" in college: because they want to rebel, because everyone's doing it, to get dates, or because campus rightists tend to be exhibitionist types, real rebels and all the more unsettling, unpopular, and anti-social.

And there are far more people who go from Democrat to Republican after college than vice versa. It's because of the pressures of earning a living and the decreasing tolerance for poses and rhetoric. And since so many went left in college there's a larger pool to drain.

There does seem to be a small countertrend, though. David Brock, Michael Lind, or Glenn Loury, for example. Sometimes it's because some other identity -- black or gay or green or WASP or female or sexually active or irreligious -- is stronger than the conservative one. Or because the call of political camps and combats weakens as one grows older. A lot of the countertrend is simply Independents and Democrats who went for Reagan and drifted back to Clinton, rather than Republicans switching colors. That does happen, but it's a rarer and much lower key phenomenon. For most party changers, leaving the GOP isn't a case of leaving a tribe, or losing a faith or an identity, though.

The left tends to be a religion, an ethnicity or an identity. People leaving it tend to choose another faith or tribe or way of thinking about themselves. Those who were conservatives when young (though not exhibitionist Young Conservatives) tend to be more low-keyed. Changing party affiliation for them is more like getting a new car or coat than a new life. Even so, very few do switch, though they may become more apathetic about politics.

[CyberCowboy777]

Coors out of necessity here. Though I once found glass shards in a couple of bottles of Coors (or should I say in my mouth). Got a 20.00 check and a hat out of it though.

Sierra Nevada's Celebration is also good.

[Sally II]

Liberals are trying to create utopia (no matter how many people they have to kill to achieve it), while conservative recognize that it cannot happen. Call it reality-based.

I guess that also explains why liberals tend to be so hostile toward Christianity. I use to think that the religious scandals of the 80s had something to do with it. But I guess when it comes down to it, an inherently flawed sin nature than needs a Savior goes against the idea that humanity can acheive perfection through sheer good intentions and will. And I guess for similar reasons, the state of Israel also goes against the utopian goal.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

Imagine a Goth Conservative.

Generally, the rightist Goths whom I know tend more towards the Libertarian. They don't go in for the Conservative approval of State social-engineering, but they tend to regard Liberals as sanctimonious, hypocritical bleeding-heart wimps.

But you'd have to ask them. I was never really goth, just like the music.

[beckett]

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip little by little at a truth we find bitter. Liberalism flatters its adherents by telling them they are morally superior. A superior person is usually quite lax at self-examination.

Only after I began to appreciate the battle between good and evil that raged within my own breast did I begin to reject the pollyannish, simplistic account of human nature and, by direct logical consequence, economics so central to leftist politics.

Since smug self-satisfaction is unlikely to ever go out of style, to be left-liberal will continue to be trendy, especially among the young and ivory tower intellectuals. I believe it was Orwell who said that no one will ever know the crimes committed in our time through the fear of being thought conservative.

[Sally II]

I just wanted to add, during my brief experiment acting like a liberal, I was lucky enough to have a wise, intelligent brother to keep me in check. Every now and then I'd go on some rant: "People are suffering. There is so much misery and equality in the world. It's just not right!" And if he wasn't pointing out that things were actually better than they've ever been in history, he would ask very calmly: "So?" It may sound kind of silly, but his calm, curt "So whats?" did more to keep me in check than anything.

[jjm2111]

"But you'd have to ask them. I was never really goth..?"

What, no leather pants, fishnet shirt, and dog collar? ;)

[CyberCowboy777]

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

What, no leather pants, fishnet shirt, and dog collar? ;)

Nah... did have the black trenchcoat and combat boots, tho (several years retired to the closet, now).

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

Come to think of it, my best friend probably does still have his fishnet shirt and dog collar. But most of our happy little band of nocturnal undead freaks always thought that leather pants were just a little too disco-homosexual for their tastes. ;-)

[YourAdHere]

In 92, I didn't vote for Clinton or Bush Sr., I, gulp, voted for Perot. So in essence, I guess you could say I voted for Clinton.

Republican ever since.

P.S. - I was in college at the time. You do the math!