i'm curious. so many people over the last few days have

[catmother]

expressed concern about spending the holiday with their republican parents. i'm 64 and i bet most of these parents are my age and if they are i'm curious as to why there republicans. was it the era of ronald reagan?

i was born into a democratic family. my grandfather was president of a democratic club for as long as i could remember. but i wasn't really close to him and we didn't discuss politics. i've just always felt that the democratic party was the party of the people -- the party that would take care of the little guy. i just can't even imagine being a republican -- to me they're the party who takes care of the rich.

[Archae]

1. My parents are Eisenhower repubs.

Pretty conservative, and getting disgusted with the current bunch of so-called "conservatives."

[catmother]

2. so they would be older than me. i was still pretty young when

ike was president.

[Quakerfriend]

8. Mine are as well.

To them conservatism means working hard and saving your money. It means helping others to stand on their own. It means not becoming dependant on welfare.

Hillary Clinton was once the pres of her colleges Young Repug's.
Teresa Kerry was once repug, as well.

I think those who were once repugs and then 'become liberals' just become more REAL about humanity. I myself was converted when I saw Bill Clinton reverse the welfare rolls and really help people.

[catmother]

14. i'm pretty conservative about money. my husband is only 58

and makes a good living, but we always worry that his job will be outsourced so we live below our means and we save. we're not stingy or anything, in fact, we're very charitable. we both drive nice cars, but not real expensive ones. we just want to know that if his company's tells him tomorrow that they don't need him we can survive. we weren't so conservative with money when we were younger -- pissed away almost everything we made. lol

as far as welfare, sometimes people go through a bad time and have to go on welfare to exist. but i understand you're parents view about not becoming dependent -- generation after generation.

[MissMarple]

32. John Eisenhower left the Republican Party in 2001.

He registered as an Independent. He greatly disapproves of George&Co, and what they do in the name of "conservatism".

The corporatists, the neocons, and the religious right are not conservative in any sense of the word. The Eisenhower Republicans, at least the ones who think for themselves and believe what they see and not just what they are told by the "Party", are not liking what is happening. There is much less "go along to get along", and it's just us boys making a few bucks... wink, wink, nod.

The United States is beginning to dip into its capital and the great investment could go awry.

Too bad they are such slow learners. :eyes:

[Kierkegaard]

3. I have the same perception.

I never understood why so many people would align themselves with representatives who couldn't care less about them. In recent memory, there have obviously been pols from both parties who have been more self-interested than anything else, but I still think that Dems are more attentive to their constituents.

[catmother]

5. exactly. i believe that bill clinton really cares about people. he

did as president and he does now. he's out there busting his ass trying to get AIDS under control in poor countries. and jimmy carter -- he's in his 80s and still helping people. look at ted kennedy -- he's pretty old -- and he's certainly not working for the money -- he cares about people.

[Kierkegaard]

13. Excellent examples.

Your comments actually sparked a thought. When was the last time you spotted a retired Repunk going out of their way to help the common man? Bush I excepted, as I think his teaming up with Uncle Bill was a nice gesture(it certainly took ME by surprise.)

[catmother]

15. me too. n/t

[politicaholic]

4. Some people just become more conservative as they age...

My parents went through that in the 80's and actually voted for Bush in 2000 even though I warned them numerously that they were making a huge mistake.

Luckily by 2004 they had come to their senses. That was the same year that they told me they had both switched to Paganism from The Unitarian Church. They're both almost 70.

I guess my folks just buck the trends. I have to admit, it makes holidays a little easier when we can all sit around and bitch about the environment together. Next thing I know they'll be asking me to score them weed. I'm not looking forward to that I'll tell ya.

[catmother]

7. that's great to hear. and becoming pagans at their age -- that's

refreshing to hear. my mom just left -- well she doesn't live that far away, but she was at my house for a few days -- she's 82 and she's a democrat. she hates bush with a passion -- says she doesn't know how he sleeps at night.

[HockeyMom]

9. I'm exactly the opposite

I am 57. I find I am becoming more LIBERAL as I age. I just don't care about CONTROLLING other people, which is what the hard core, religious, right Republicans want to do. I don't care how you live your life, just leave the rest of us ALONE.

[politicaholic]

19. hear hear...

I'm glad they care, but compromise is part of living in a society and unforutnately compromise is not a part of fundamental religious beliefs.

[JoZbean]

6. My parents are Republicans, I'm 50

I often wondered how I turned out to not be one, I was registered as a Republican some 30 years ago, and then one day I got a letter in the mail that said "Dear Fellow Conservative," That about blew me away. I didn't know much about politics back then, but I knew I wasn't a "Conservative." I immediately changed my party affiliation.

The few times I've voiced my amazement, I was told that I chose to use my mind to think for myself and didn't just "inherit" my beliefs. I think my own parents came from a generation (they're 76 and 70) where you inherit your politics and it never occurs to them to challenge what they 'inherited'. I can't talk to my dad at all about politics. I can talk to my mother and I know she agrees with much of what I say, but given her generation, she doesn't question what her husband would have her think. I think she secretly votes her conscience when she enters the voting booth, but she'd never, ever tell Daddy if it was in opposition to how he'd have her vote. In my heart, I believe she voted for Kerry, but she'll never admit it, if she did, as long as Daddy is living.

Don't get me wrong, my parents are good people. I just think that for the most part, they're so very isolated from the rest of the world except for the limited world they've created for themselves that they find it easier to exist without questioning the political power of the times.

I often hear "how do you stand having all that stuff going on in your head?" to which I answer "How could I stand it if I didn't?"

[JoZbean]

11. Oh, and btw.......

Both my daughters are somewhat "republican." The both married Republicans and 'inherited' their political beliefs from their husbands. It's an even bigger puzzle how I managed to raise girls who don't think for themselves!

[catmother]

16. my husband is a republican. don't know exactly when it happened

most of the 80s we were both consumed by our jobs and when we moved to phoenix late 1989, we could register to vote when we got our arizona's driver's license. well anyway, a few weeks later a postcard came in the mail for him and he had registered as a republican. i couldn't believe it. he was a democrat when i met him. his parents were republicans. when we moved into our new house a few years ago when he did a change of address on line i asked him to at least change his party to independent and he did. he listens to these right wingers on the car radio and i think he's brainwashed. however, he saw mark warner on C-span a few weeks ago, and said "he's got my vote". so i'm hopeful, but he feels we cannot pull out of iraq. he says that he's a moderate and that i'm more to the left and i can't dispute that.

[catmother]

21. that is so sad. why do women feel they have to change to

please their husbands. i saw so much of that when i was younger. just about all of my girlfriends did a complete round-about when they got married. one in particular was pretty wild. she marries this guy who's into sports. all of a sudden she becomes a new york yankee fan -- even goes to ballgames. then when she had a child it got even worse. needless to say we are no longer friends. i'm on husband #2 (we've been together 35 years) and i have never once compromised my beliefs or any of my ways to please him. even now he became a republican and needless to say i'm a democrat down into every fibre of my being. lol. we do argue politics but not to the point where it will affect our relationship.

it's so old school -- having to agree with your husband. what has happened to the feminist movement?

ON EDIT: my youngest sister did that. she's on husband #3. when she was married to #1 she took on his views. then #2 the same thing. she hasn't been with #3 that long so i can't really can't say for sure. she sounds like herself when we talk but i haven't seen them together yet.

[tularetom]

10. I'm your age - my parents are both dead

but I believe they became republicans as they grew older and they became more and more afraid that the government was gonna glom onto their assets. Plus my mom was disabled for many years before her death and mostly just sat there getting brainwashed by asshole radio programs. I have just the opposite situation. My daughter has married a wingnut and sort of adopted his worldview. She is quite tense during these family holidays because she knows grandpa (and grandma too for that matter) are both ready to smack hubby down if he opens his yap to spout some r/w radio bullshit. My son is pretty much apolitical - he just sits and laughs at the whole situation.

[RebelOne]

42. I am a couple of years older than you.

And my parents have been dead for quite a while now. My father, I am sure, must have been a Democrat, mainly because he was an atheist. And I think my mother was also even though she was quite religious. but she voted for JFK

[seabeyond]

12. my father is a law and order conservative business man

he doesnt think outside the box, nor does he want to he is uncomfortable. emotion is uncomfortable. he is a good honest man and all i have seen in his life, pretty much, has been done in intergrity

my mother was more spiritual and outside the box.

i was raised with republican and democrat.

i take after my father more.

and i always seem to vote democrat, though in theory i am not against republican.. i just always like the democrats running, better. and i have always see the lying and corruptness of the repugs. i hate that even more than policy

[left is right]

17. My dad became more liberal as he aged

He regretted his 2nd vote for Nixon, before the polls closed on election day. he came home from voting and read something about Nixon that disturbed him so much that he begged my mom to go vote against Nixon to cancel his vote. Over the next several years he became more liberal in attitude but still called himself a conservative, we began to laugh at him and say that he was a closeted liberal and that it was time to come out of the closet. He is now very liberal. My mother was always apolitical until * was elected and now she is anti-bush.

[leeroysphitz]

18. Reagan Managed to hoodwink a LOT of otherwise decent

people. My Mother included.

[pitohui]

20. i'm curious abt it too

my parents are quite a bit older than you, they are certainly not republicans any longer tho they once were

they feel reagan made it clear that moderates were not welcome in the gop

and now they'd be considered raving liberals, i don't think it is that they have changed so much of a much, i think the country as a whole has moved in a frightening direction toward religious hysteria and extremism

[leftofthedial]

22. the same two reasons anyone is a repuke

1. $$$$ (narcissistic, soul-consuming greed)
2. insanity (religious, racial, jingoistic)

[PowerToThePeople]

23. I will not spend time with mine. Already skipped Thanksgiving. n/t

[catmother]

24. good for you. they say you can't choose your family, but if they

upset you, i think it's better to just stay away.

[PowerToThePeople]

26. I will not even try to be polite to people who think such thoughts.

And, I know they have just been brainwashed by the MSM and their church, etc. But it is the extreme state of their close-mindedness that kills me.

The worst thing is, MANY people in this nation think the same way. They have no clue how anti-humanitarian and un-Christian their thoughts really are.

Sickens me.

[Jara sang]

25. The defining character of ALL republicans is that they are all racist.

[seabeyond]

27. bullshit. that is exactly like saying dems are dove.....defining

character, my ass. that is a bullshit statement, and offensive

[noiretextatique]

31. racism has been a defining strategy

of the republican party for a couple of decades, though i doubt most who that strategy appeals to would consider themselves racist, or bigoted, as someone mentions below. but certainly racist, and more recently anti-gay, rhetoric has been a defining strategy of the republican party. which makes one wonder why people who don't share those sentiments continue to support that party.

[seabeyond]

34. i dont like shit about the democratic party. but i still vote dem

because over all i want what they offer. the same the other way. and those that you would like to characterize as racist live and fight it, like i live and fight the stuff i dont like in dem party

now the basis of what you are saying is absolutely true and i present that reality to my repugs,..........but i would never say something as idiotic that ALL republicans are racists. it is wrong, and man........when are we going to get beyond making these blantantly untruth comments to present our side. this here is what i think repugs do a zillion times to one of the dems. but dont like it when dems do even once. tired of this shit

[noiretextatique]

37. i belong to the demographic

that votes overwhelming democratic, moreso than any other group...i would say we've done our share of fighting. i agree that stereotyping is dumb, and you agree that the racist message of the republican party is and has been self-evident. i have no idea why people still support that party, to be honest. they are fiscally irresponsible, have zero concern for working people, blatantly support the corporate agenda, and continue to use bigotry as means to divide and conquer. i have many issues with democratic party myself, but promoting bigotry isn't one of them, though i do take issue to the mealy-mouthed, appeasing responses to that republican strategy.

[seabeyond]

38. i fight hard and fast against that aspect of the repug party

that is to be sure. i dont accept it at all. i am not fearful of speaking out, regardless of where i may be, and how appropriate it may be for me to speak out. lol lol. lots of texas male have felt my wrath.........i have quite a reputation

i do get tired of it. i say, wha wha......i am not going to be quiet when i see anyone being ugly. period. not my fault. fault of the bigot

[noiretextatique]

40. good for you

i find i have to do more of it regarding "those people" in iraq and other places because most wouldn't dare say anything directly to me, if you know what i mean. i live in northern california, so it's not too often that i hear blatantly racist crap even if people believe it.
enjoy the rest of the weekend...and keep up the good fight :thumbsup:

[catmother]

45. i'm very outspoken about politics and my personal beliefs. my

husband has worked for 36 years for a large international company. he keeps me away from anyone that he works with because as he says "he never knows what's going to come out of my mouth". lol

[seabeyond]

46. i hear ya. but you know my hubby has this proud thing going on

and........living in texas, me being a calif gal, i get a certain amount of grace. lol. my hubby sets me up. will be around these people and will say, now my wife doesnt agree with the war, then he sits back, lol. he is bad. and he never tells me to shut up. i try to be ok, sometimes i cannot.

but the company things are the worst. certain amount of having to keep mouth shut. sure is nice that we have men that can do women like us. that is for sure. and this is what arnie would call girlie men. geez, i love and value our girlie men, wink.

[catmother]

47. yeah. it is nice. my husband and i are both from new york --

moved to phoenix late 89. so sometimes when i say something out of place -- i'll say hey i'm from new york -- that's how we talk back there. of course, i have been told to go back. lol

[Jara sang]

43. Are you a republican.

EVERY single republican I know is a racist. EVERY single god damn last one of them. I am merely going by experience. What are you going on?

[seabeyond]

44. my husband was a republican until i informed him enough

and he was encourage to search out information off msm because of my rants in loud voices. he isnt a racist. my father has been a lifetime republican. i have known him all my life. he is not a racist. both my brothers are republicans. one can be called a racist, one is absolutely not a racist. i have in laws that are republicans, and though they fool themselves, they cannot be called racists. i have friends here in town that are fundies and though misinformed and unaware and not politically active, they are not racist.

i could be a republican, and i am not a racist, though i tend to always vote democrat. i dont consider myself a democrat either

[PowerToThePeople]

30. Most I know are rascist. Moreso just bigoted in some manner.

They all think they are "better" than some other person due to race, sex, sexual orientation, class, etc.

Bigoted is the correct term imo.

[seabeyond]

36. ya, but to be honest you can see that in most all man. i dont think

you can say it is not in dems also. lets throw out a smoker, or someone that doesn't do what a dem thinks people should do, or a southern and see the bigoted comments, and the fast judging. i dont think it is simply indicative of repugs, i think that is a statement for all mankind. ah, the educated against the uneducated. i can go on and on.

[padia]

41. I agree with you

in the 60's the southern strategy was all about racism. In 1980 the GOP would not recognize ERA as part of the party platform and I know the reagan delegate that walked off the floor and has been a hard working Dem ever since. And let us not forget that Robertson has said that only christians can serve in the government because they are the only ones congruent with the Constitution. So lets see since the current neocons started organizing to get where they are, they have been slanderous toward you if you are not a white, male, christian. Hmmm sounds pretty racist to me!!!!!

[etherealtruth]

28. My parents are in their 60's

Both are life long Democrats. Both were raised in RC families and feel that liberalism is consistent with there religious beliefs and conservatism contradicts them.

[catmother]

35. good to hear. as i said in my post i was raised in a democratic

family, but i still made my own decision. my mothers 5 brothers and 1 sister were democrats. now it's just one brother and my mom left, but it's such a good feeling to know that my uncle who is about 87 still believes in the party. he totally hates bush.

on edit: my family are all roman catholic and my uncle who is still alive was at one time quite wealthy. he started a business with 2 partners which did very well and then bought into other businesses, but he still stayed a democrat -- so sometimes in not just about the money. we're pretty comfortable (not rich) and we got a tax cut from bush. now everyone likes a tax cut but not at the expense of those less fortunate. and the repubs seem to always cut things that affect the poor.

[knitter4democracy]

29. My dad switched.

He raised me to be a liberal. He hated Nixon and was proud of Carter for years. He fought for the unions at his workplace, even though he was an engineer and in management, and he always taught me to believe in the Dem Party.

Things changed after he married my Republican step-mom but changed slowly. He got in an argument with our county drain commissioner, a major Dem and total idiot, over the creek that went through our property and ran against him as a Republican because that was the only way. Then, Clinton really pissed him off, and he started listening more and more to right-wing talk radio (after raising me with NPR).

He's so far-right now that I can barely talk with him. One possible chance, though, is that he really likes our Dem governor, the first Dem I've heard him like in years. He's also getting more and more angry at Bush, seeing our manufacturing sector get wiped out just when we're really going to need it.

He might swing back, but we have agreed to not talk politics anymore. Too painful.

[catmother]

33. my mom is a democrat, but she hated clinton. she always says

"he shook his finger in my face when he lied about monica". i always say "mom don't take it so personal" lol

[MindPilot]

39. For my dad, it was simply education

After 25 years in the Air Force, he went to college and returned a changed man. When he came out to meet my ship retuning from Vietnam just a couple months after his graduation, his hair was longer than mine! (He always had the strict military cut, I pushed the Navy regs as far as I could.)

He was suddenly against the war, concerned about excessive police powers, and <gasp!> thought it was "not un-called-for" (one of his favorite phrases) to question authority.

My mom, a Brit, has always been fairly liberal, but she also lived--quite literally--through WW II and is well-educated.

I've always been liberal although I have to admit to voting for Nixon in 72. I thought he was doing a decent job getting my ass out of Vietnam; he should be able to finish.

I was young and stupid. It was my first vote; not everybody can do it right the first time. My youthful indiscretion.

[neebob]

48. My parents were both born in 1936

They became Republicans because they were brainwashed with religious and other 19th-century bullshit that neither of them ever questioned, or if they did, the brainwashing was too powerful. My mother is now 69, and while she thinks Reagan was swell, it's not him or that era. What happened to her started in the sixties, when my dad persuaded her to join the Mormon church. He was a loud, overbearing, gun-toting old-fashioned disciplinarian king of his castle who couldn't stand to be disagreed with. He became severely disabled about five years before he died, and my mom spent those years essentially trapped in their house with him and his Limbaugh Letters. She became the wingnuttiest wingnut you could ever imagine.

My mom remembers the forties and fifties with incredible fondness and has actually said she'd rather go back there. But don't you dare suggest she might like to redo 1958 and marry someone else.

After my dad died, I made the mistake of sharing my true feelings about him with my mom. I stupidly thought it would improve our relationship, but it had the opposite effect. We did nothing but argue for two years.

My mother lives in a world where everything is either good or bad but most things are bad. Conversing with her is exhausting because her religious, political, and social views are the polar opposites of mine and everything - even an offhand comment about the most mundane of things - has some hidden tie-in to her beliefs. I'm constantly screening what I'm about to say for its potential to violate one of them and result in her correcting me. There are only two safe topics: animals and the weather. There aren't too many things I'd rather not do than go hang around her in person.

For a while it seemed like she was tired of arguing, too, and we'd reached something resembling an understanding, but lately she's been assailing me with rants about things she knows I disagree with her on.

[confludemocrat]

49. I was raised liberal to radical. So great was the influence that

when i hear that someone who espouses liberal thinking has righty parents, I fundamentally do not fully trust them. Too much belief that, with whatever evidence and there are personal and public evidences of it, they are likely to deep-down harbor rightwing thinking and prejudices or may "revert" more readily.