Did You Inherit YOUR Parents' Political Beliefs?

[Placebo]

I'm just curious how many of us DUers come from republican or democratic parents :)

[Kinkistyle]

1. Was Repug till college.

Shows what a lil education can do.

[Cat Atomic]

2. Yeah, my dad was heavily into labor issues.

Very pro-Union.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I am the black sheep.

Everybody in my family, both sides, since time immemorial, has been Republican. Not a single Democrat among them, except me. My siblings are downright freepish on occasion. My lefty tendencies have been driving my family nuts since about 1967. Snicker.

[flvegan]

4. Nope. I helped turn it around.

Both 'rents were GOP. My dad is deceased, but was 23 years Navy, and very supportive of repubs as I can recall. I think he'd be GOP. Now, my mom voted for Barney Rubble in 2000. Now, after much discussion and fact finding, I've pointed out the truth and logic between the two. She despises what Dubblya has done and is voting Kerry/Edwards this time 'round.

[charlyvi]

5. You didn't have an option for my category....

Inherited my parents' FDR worship--When they were young. Then they got old and suddenly reverted to repugship. I didn't change with them, thank God. THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS THE ONE BEST HOPE OF THE USA!

[sr_pacifica]

12. A similar story here

My father tended to be apolitical, but Mom was a strong democrat when I was a kid---loved JFK, hated Reagan when he was governor of California. She used to say of Reagan "he has no compassion." Then sometime in the seventies she became a Republican! And then it was "bleeding heart liberals!"

I was always a Democrat although I became more of a leftist as I grew older,but in the past 5 years or so I have become a political realist and that informs my choices as a voter now.

[MaryBear]

38. Hi, there, sr_pacifica!

I see you're from Watsonville. I miss that area.

GB

[deadparrot]

6. Parents are both Dems (teachers- we're quite poor).

[starroute]

7. Not enough options in the poll

My father's a pretty mainstream liberal Democrat (who feels bad that at just short of 90 he doesn't have the strength to go out and help on the current campaign.) But my mother was always someone further left than that, and I suspect she merely voted Democratic most of the time because she had no other option.

Then what about people whose parents were socialists? Or anything else out of the two-party duality?

[NYC Liberal]

8. Everyone in my is a VERY liberal Democrat.

:)

[meganmonkey]

9. No, they inherited mine

Well, my dad did anyway. my mom was always liberal but pretty quiet about it.
my dad was conservative republican (voted for reagan, bush I) until about 1999. once i studied a little social philosophy and learned how to speak his language, we were able to have really good conversations. over a couple of years, i convinced him on a few particular issues like affirmative action and social justice, even the environment. that, in addition to some life experiences (loss of money) and the overall political climate, turned him around. i've even brought him and my mom to a couple of anti-war rallies.

[Kolesar]

10. To his credit, Nixon did do ONE good thing when he was president

He turned my parents into Democrats. We took different routes to end up at the same place.

[sweetheart]

11. I come from human parents

Mother seems to vote with "the man in her life", and with her
remarried scene, i cannot say... nor do i want to know.

Dad was against viet nam, and i remember listening together with
him nixon's resignation on armed forces radio in berlin... it was
a good time to celibrate that hack going down. So in that sense,
i guess dad's DNA was a bit stronger in me.

I like the question, however i would maybe ask it differently.
Are you left or right of <each parent>?
As well, are you more libertarian or authoritarian of <each parent>?
Also, some sibling data would be interesting as well, left/right and
authoritarian/libertarian?
Which parent are your politics most like? same sex or opposite?

[Placebo]

14. Eh, I didn't want to make the poll too complicated...

but as far as all those other options go, that's what the message field is for! :hi:

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

40. Those would be interesting poll topics too.

[camero]

13. Both were apolitical

They asked me how to vote.

[MaryBear]

39. In my dreams, camero!

That would be sweet.

[GRLMGC]

15. yes

well, one's a socialist and the other is a dem. I see I am not the only one.

[bobthedrummer]

16. Sheesh, you left out quite a bit imo.

When I was a kid growing up in Milwaukee it was during the administration of it's second Socialist Mayor.

OTOH a NSWPP candidate for Mayor got thousands of votes in 1976.

I'm an independent myself, a Kucinich/Wellstone/McGovern type Dem supporter-so I didn't vote.

[B Calm]

17. Dad is a Democrat, Mom was a republican

Mom whored around on dad and was a drunk. Dad divorced mom and got custody of all three of us kids in the late 1950s. My republican mom married three more times and ended up dying of cancer at the age of 49.

[ET Awful]

18. You need an "other" choice.

Both of my parents are completely apolotical.

[Bombtrack]

19. Um, there's no choice for parents were apolitical

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

20. Father was a Democrat - Mother a Socialist

[Huckebein the Raven]

21. In the sense that my parents are Dems

then yes but my parents are moderate to conservative Dems. Most African Americans are socially conservative so it's understandable.

Their views on Same-sex marriages has changed and they do listen to AAR but their views on issues outside the U.S are still a little narrow and they think I'm a snob because I listen to the BBC and read foreign newspapers but I'm working on enlightening them. My sister and I are waaaay to the left of our parents

[solarize]

22. both parents

were quiet liberal growing up. My dad has become more conservative, but more socially than politically. My mom has probably become more liberal. He works for the Catholic Church, but vehemently disagrees with most of what the church is doing (it's really weighing on him). Unfortunately, he is so high on the ladder, I can't really mention his name without getting him in trouble...

[11 Bravo]

23. My Dad is a career Naval Officer who saw combat in WWII, Korea,

and Vietnam, although in Nam he wasn't likely to get nicked as he was commanding an aircraft carrier (while I was pounding ground 40 miles to the east). To this day I disagree with him about virtually everything political, but I still think he is one of the most decent men I have ever known.

[JohnKleeb]

24. Yeah I did but its my family as a whole that influenced me

My mom I really don't have any political infleunce from, no offense ma but you work a lot heh and we've never discussed it but when we have, you've been dead on and to the point. My dad I believe influenced my social liberalism more so, he grew up in the 60's, and knew people like me who were of all sorts of backgrounds and he was pretty tolerant to them, plus he took me to Clinton's first inaguaral which was memorable, he's also a lover of the outdoors so he in a way influenced my environmentalism. Now my grandparents that is my mom's folks, who grew up quite poor in Western Pennsylvania really influenced my economic beliefs that we should help those in need, that unions are great, etc, and some of my foreign policy beliefs like war as a last resort, my grandfather is a Korean war vet. I think I inheirted my politics for sure, without my family and their experiences, I would have had a hard time learning.

[blackcat77]

25. My parents were both hardcore GOP

My dad was the Pub precinct committeeman and occasional candidate for state office. One of my earliest memories is when he made me sit on an elephant's back for a picture he was going to use in a brochure.

I even worked for Barry Goldwater when I was 12 years old in 1964.

But then I came of age, started to think for myself and started paying attention to people like Bobby Kennedy and, locally, Birch Bayh and Vance Hartke, who were great old-school liberal Democrats. My parents were shocked and offended but that turned me around and I've been a Dem ever since.

But giving credit where it's due, it was my mom and dad who first got me interested in politics at all, and for that, I'll be forever grateful.

[LiberalPersona]

26. I only know one parent

While we're both democrats, she's a conservative (a real conservative, not a neocon) while I am a strong liberal.

[Massacure]

27. My dad is a hardcore Republican, My mom doesn't pay attention to politcs

I happen to believe in a fiscally conservative government. My dad is a hardcore Bush supporter though, and there is nothing fiscally conservative about him.

Socially I lean progressive somewhat. My dad is leans conservative on that though.

[kittykitty]

28. I never knew what they were! I guess republican by who they voted

for. We ate dinner as a family every night, and sort of had political discussions, but never with terms like republican or Democrat. My grandmother worshiped Elenore Roosevelt, and my father hated him, because he believed he knew the attack of Pearl Harbor, and LIHOP.

I was in college in the 60's in Berkeley, so it's not hard to guess how I developed my political views!

[Zookeeper]

29. I spent very little time with my parents when I was young, so....

it was hard to know what their politics were. When I was about 12, I remember nagging my parents to vote Democratic and assumed my mother would and my dad wouldn't. 'Found out later that my mother didn't and my dad did (!).

Later in life, I would say that dad was a repub and mom went along for the ride. Now, she is widowed and won't talk politics with me, but has said that Bush's prescription drug benefit is a rip-off and said shortly after the beginning of the Iraq war that it was "a mess."

I plan to ask her just before the election how she is planning to vote. (Stem cell research is big issue for my immediate family.)

[BamaGirl]

30. We're all Dems

My parents, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins...we joke it's a prerequisite to marry into the family lol. GOP'ers are unwelcome lol.

[grannylib]

31. Parents both Christians for peace and social justice. That's why I am who

I am.
Was toted around as a kid to anti-war demonstrations, civil rights marches, love-ins, sit-ins, occupying buildings in civil disobedience, etc.
Dad was a Lutheran pastor at a small church college. We had people from all over the planet, from many cultures, in our home on a regular basis. My dad really valued all people, and took great pains to explain the beliefs of others and taught me to respect and value them. Had a HUGE impact on me.
My brother is 10 years older and was not the 'captive audience' that I was; he was off doing his own thing with his fellow teens. He's a freeper. Makes me very sad, although....he is CONVINCED that his taxes are going up (he makes the mega-bucks) because KERRY IS GOING TO WIN!!!!!
:bounce:

[Shopaholic]

34. You were raised right!

My parents weren't quite that politically active but they believe that you lead by example and that you can't be a true Christian unless you want equality for everyone.

[GoneOffShore]

32. My dad thought Roosevelt was

Satan's asshole, and so did I up until the 7th grade.
I'm not sure what changed my mind, but I think I realized, even then, that it was better to live in a country where everyone had the same rights, as opposed to only certain people having those rights.
I never understood why my dad was so staunchly Republican. He was a house painter, his mother was a seamstress, his grandmother (from Germany) owned a saloon. There was no way he should have been a Republican.
But he was.
My mother was a closet Democrat, as I found out after she died. Checks to the DNC, and the ACLU. She kept if very quiet though.
Edit for spelling

[Wapsie B]

33. Nope.

And thank God for that. Mom is a moderate repug, never cared for Ronnie at all. Dad is conservative enough to make a John Bircher look like a commie. He shed no tears when either Kennedy was killed. In fact he applauded. Same with MLK and John Lennon.

[WLKjr]

35. Great Depression Era Grandfather

taught me the real democratic way.

[TriMetFan]

36. Dad is a Very Liberal Democratic

Mom is a Very Moderate Republican. And for the first time in her life she is voting for a Democratic for President. She didn't even vote in 2000. I'm so Proud of her. There is still hope that between myself, siblings and Dad we can change her to a Democratic.:evilgrin:

[CelticWinter]

37. NO thank heavens....

I didnt inherit my parents political or religious beliefs, whew. I have always been a dem ever since I can remember. My mother still thinks gb is the greatest thing since toilet paper, she has his picture in her living room (hurl, gag, choke) there is no hope for the woman. One of my favorite ways to quietly needle her is to put the book Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot on my coffee table when I know she is coming :)

[MaryBear]

41. Welcome to DU, CelticWinter!

:hi:

[ogradda]

42. almost my entire family

is rabidly democratic.with a few just plain democratic. one republican aunt we figure she's a pod :)

[Technowitch]

43. My father thinks the Repugs are too wussy left-wingish for his tastes

He is, literally speaking, a card carrying member of the John Birch Society.

And I do believe he's still voting for George Wallace, as he's been doing ever since 1968.

My mother... well, I think she's a Democrat. She won't say.

[Still_Notafraid]

44. Both parents

are Republicans,They have a lot of Apathy for most things which would explain why,Mother claims to be a Christan but she is what Christan's call a church goat dad doesn't care much,but he does listen to lies about us trying to take guns away.

My mother who actually votes Republican goes on and on about Clinton's sex life when ever politics comes up,although she does like John Edwards they both really don't know much about the Republican party or what they stand for.

I would say Dad like Repubs for guns
Mom likes Repubs because of the church telling her to vote that way.even with all the evidence I produce to support why they should be dems they have to much Apathy in there blood to change.

[WINEWOMAN7]

45. Yes,

My dad was a long time democrat even though his father was a republican, voted in as Reno Nevada post master. However his dad died when he was 8 and he developed his political beliefs as he matured because he was left to help his mother as an only child. He was the president of the young democrat's club of California in the 1930's.
My mother's family were almost communists. My Grandfather supported Eugene Debbs in the 1920's.
I adored my father. He was a creative, sensitive, caring person who told me that the democrats cared about the working people, republicans only cared about the rich. Even though some of his ideas today sound naive, I think he got the general idea of the values of the republican party.

Dian

[nonconformist]

46. Yep. Come from a long line of yellow dog dems.

Working class, blue-collar (for the most part), union-supporting and politically active Democrats.

I'm passing that on to my children as well because I am damn proud of it. I still remember helping stuff envelopes and making buttons and signs as a small kid for everything from union marches to presidential elections. I still remember standing in the cold Michigan winters picketing, and later as a teen bringing hot coffee and donuts to GM employees on strike. Our dining room was turned into Campaign Central often and I remember many a late night at the local Democratic Party headquarters.

Good solid experiences, and I learned a lot about values and commitment from it.

[RushIsRot]

47. My father switched to Republican during Eisenhower

to get a rural carrier position with the Post Office, He soon switched back when he learned that Republican would not support a cost of living increase in his salary.

[donheld]

48. My parents were both strong GOP

Mainly due to being strong evangelical christian. My mother still thinks Nixon was framed. Of course she can't stand the Clintons, but bushies a saint in her eyes.

I guess it's because i am 100% gay that i had to question, and abandon all that crap.

[timtom]

49. We rarely talked politics

I remember, as a kid of about 10, kind of rooting for Eisenhower for president because he was a general and I thought that was cool. Any further political awareness did not surface until 1960 with JFK. I naturally fell in with the Democrats from that point on and haven't looked back. I just chalk up 1952 to youthful indiscretion. But I didn't exhale.

[DemBones DemBones]

50. My father's family all went GOP when

FDR closed the banks. My grandfather had come to the US and built up a very profitable business but he had all his money in banks that didn't reopen. I can see how that soured them on FDR.

My mother's father was a yellow dog Democrat, though, so perhaps I come by some of my beliefs naturally. ;-)

[tibbir]

51. My family thinks I come from another planet.

I shared their repukian viewpoint until I went to college and became enlightened. My first presidential vote was for McGovern. I'm really happy I got the opportunity to vote for him and I was totally dismayed by the results of the election. :nuke:

[doubleplusgood]

52. my mother was in the John Birch Society

& dyed-in-the-wool Republican, soft-core racist. My dad was vaguely conservative. Rest of my family is R/W...I'm the "Black sheep" of the family & proud of it.

[devinsgram]

53. When I was a youngster yes,

Didn't know any better. When I got older and began to use my brain, that all changed.

[Placebo]

54. Ooooh, 156 votes!

Yay! Hope more people tell us their story. :hi: