Posted on 11/29/2002 2:29:29 PM PST by John Jorsett
At Thanksgiving dinner last night, I was astounded to hear that my sister-in-law, who had been a Democrat her whole life, has switched registration to the Republican party. She was chief of staff for a Democrat state legislator, and recently ran a primary campaign for a Democrat Assembly seat. Trust me, this was a major life change.
I asked her what brought about this change, and she said she could no longer put up with a) the corruption, and b) intolerance. She couldn't stomache the outright bribe-seeking by the governor and the party, and the tailoring of district lines to favor specific party-anointed candidates. She also noted how having an opinion that deviates one bit from party orthodoxy makes one a pariah. She says, for example, that it's possible to be pro-choice and still be a viable candidate in the Republican party, but being a pro-life Democrat is nearly impossible. And the same applies to nearly any other issue you can name. One either toes the line in all respects or is ostracized. Being pro-2nd amendment, and questioning whether needle exchange programs actually reduce the incidence of AIDS has earnied her major headaches.
I don't have any direct data, but I suspect that a lot of folks are or will be following her example.
This is the kind of "vanity" post that makes me love vanity posts just as much as news articles.
If this keeps up I can die content.
The dems weak excuse of not having a message and not able to communicate to voters is so untrue. They have a message and it was communicated; they lie, cheat using courts, support Saddam and try to tear down our president, spit on the boy scouts, steal our property from the white house, pardon for money, call opponents Nazis, on and on. This is not lost on the public outside us conservatives.
Last night she told me she doesn't like Gray Davis, but she feels that George W. Bush is too pro-Illegal Alien. I coudn't disagree, so all I did was tell her the Democrats are worse.
I don't think it was enough to get her to change her registration.
And this is different in the Republican party HOW?
She says, for example, that it's possible to be pro-choice and still be a viable candidate in the Republican party, but being a pro-life Democrat is nearly impossible.
Oh great! Another moderate to 'balance' the Conservative side...
I want you to know John, I'm semi-serious. The need to tongue-n-cheek this 'conversion' couldn't be avoided, but her switch is only of conveinance, not because her ideological stance has been modified. I would rather have her go 3rd party than muck up the Republican party with her moderate stance.
My opinion...
Your opinions had an impact!
My father in law is a democrat in CA and fed up as well, but he has been head of a union there for many years and will stay with the party. But he has said similar things about corruption and the liberal lean of the party there. I know he won't be changing, too many ties run deep in his career and he has made a lot of money and friends in the party, but he is thinking of retiring soon as the stress is getting to him terribly.
He is an 'old school' dem and sincerely cares for workers and people, it is not about gay rights, aids, etc and so on for him, the democrats used to stand for something real when he got into office. The party has lost it's core to satisfy the fringe groups and even though I know he won't change I sense that a lot of other people will be.
My mother-in-law is an elected dem on the school board and she is not going to run again (woo-hooo) but having talked with her about issues in general (without mentioning politics) she is, in core values, conservative. Her stances on crime, government spending and taxation, etc, reveal the real her but due to her husband's position I can see why she ran as a dem.
If people this hard core and deep into the party are disenchanted I wonder how the 'swing' types are doing...
There was a time when we Americans laughed at Mexico for being corrupt and at Japan for making junk. Today we're the ones who are corrupt ... and we don't make ANYTHING! (except, of course, social parasites.)
So what? In my observation, her ideological stances were pretty conservative to begin with. If she feels more at home in the Republican party, I think it makes sense for her to switch.
I would rather have her go 3rd party than muck up the Republican party with her moderate stance.
Just did I write that allows you to conclude she's a moderate? And, you don't get to choose who to admit to the party, fortunately for her.
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