So Ed Shultz admits tonight that he used to be a Republican 15 years ago...

[teddy51]

Hmmmm Sorry, but I seriously don't believe that you can just convert from being a Repug to a Liberal (Democrat). What say you?

[rosesaylavee]

1. Be amazed.

There are many here who did just that. Bad information can do that.

The Clarence Thomas hearing started me re-thinking my politics... and I register somewhere left of Gandhi now.

[Ohio Joe]

2. Many people have changed from one to the other

People change many things about themselves all the time.

[SharonAnn]

73. I'm one of them. Though I changed 30+ years ago

I did not consider myself a Democrat when I became old enough to vote because I thought the Dixiecrats controlled the Democratic Party.

Then I watched what the parties did and I realized that the GOP was anti-women, anti-minority, and actually anti-people but pro-corporations.

So, I considered myself an Independent for some time.

Then, I realized that everything I believed in was what the Democratic Party fought for.

Nowadays, even the Democrats seem to be affected by the corporate agenda.

Sigh.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. Wasn't a new admission tonight - he talks about it often - at least on his radio show.

[bluestateguy]

4. This is not a new revelation

15 years ago I opposed gay marriage. I was wrong and I am sorry.

[bigdarryl]

5. thats what I was thinking to

how the fuck you go from being a Conservative to a liberal never heard of that kind of switch

[Deep13]

9. It's the D to R conversions that confuse me. nt

[Kennah]

12. That's easy to explain. Dixiecrats who find a racist home in the GOP.

[Deep13]

21. If you are defining "Dixiecrat" broadly...

...then there are a lot of them in the North too.

[Kennah]

26. Racist GOOPs in the North? I can't argue with you there. Dixiecrat label does seem to cover them.

[Supersedeas]

63. Yankeecrats who find a home with big dollar donors

There is a list of Yankeecrats who transition easily from Politician to Washington lobbyist.

[rosesaylavee]

15. Yes!

I know a former Kucinich supporter who now thinks Cain and Huntsman are great. I just can't wrap my head around that.

[CreekDog]

25. Easy --you like Conservatives nice simple, black and white answers

and then you realize, perhaps slowly, that there aren't as many easy answers and there's lots of gray.

and then the rest is easy.

[demwing]

48. You've never heard of someone changing for the better?

Never?

[Deep13]

6. Just more of that Dubya magic!

I have friends who were R.s 15 years ago and are now almost as left-leaning as me. Bush turned them into Ds.

Even still, I think like most of the RW gas bags, Shultz is a performance artist. I don't really care. It's an important weapon in the PR arsenal.

[stellanoir]

7. Dunno about its likelihood,

but if memory serves, I heard on Steph's show that his wife was a not so minor influence in his full conversion.

Can't verify that.

But do know it can happen that way.

Love can be the best equalizer of all.

Good on both of 'em.

[Kennah]

8. Count me as a convert

Nothing happens overnight. It's a slow gradual drift, and the natural current is to the left.

[teddy51]

10. Sorry, but I am very sceptical on this. n/t

[frylock]

11. what's your take on bernie sanders?

[teddy51]

17. Thats a good point, (Saunders used to be a Democrat and switched to Independant)

However, switching from Republican to Democrat is a major re-adjustment to ones Political views.

[frylock]

45. bernie sanders was a republican turned indy

[shireen]

55. lol! in which universe? nt

[frylock]

74. i was thinking of jeffords..

my bad.

[Deep13]

22. The Ds are too right-wing for him.

I kind of agree. I vote D, but the party itself is in bed with corporate interests.

[Mimosa]

13. Plenty of people learn and change during their lifetimes.

If people didn't grow, change, everybody would have the same beliefs at age 50 they had at age 15.

Teddy, I don't get your point. I've seen people start as wild liberals in their late teens, grow conservative when they were in their 30s, and go back to being liberal during their 50s. (LIKE ME!) It happens a LOT!

[teddy51]

19. Point well taken.... I guess it has to do with the swing in politics since 2000. n/t

[Mimosa]

33. *Smile*

You got it, Teddy.

Imagine how many people were repulsed by the actions of the Bush admin. and the ultra-conservatives. Many became *almost* democrats. But they are 'conservadems'. ;)

[Kennah]

44. In 2000, I was an enthusiast Dubya supporter. 8 years later, and Meh summed up my view of the GOP.

I voted for McCain thinking/hoping, "Just as only Nixon could go to China, only a Republican can get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan." Damned fool me, yes?

Ralph Nader said, I believe during his 2000 Presidential campaign, and I'm paraphrasing, "There is a slim glimmer of hope for the Democratic Party and no hope at all for the Republican Party."

Dubya did his part, and then some, to prove the second half of Nader's statement.

While there are things I could quibble with Obama over, and some of them big things, I always go back to this.

http://whattheheckhasobamadonesofar.com/

I'll vote for Obama in 2012, and there isn't a single reason I can think of to ever vote for another Republican ever again. If for no other reason, I will vote straight Democratic Party--as I did in 2010--as a penance for all my past voting sins.

[midnight]

14. I'm not sure at this point it matters does it? With all the bipartisan legislation that leaves

workers unrepresented... I'm just not sure that titles matter as much as actions.... But aren't you glad he is liberal now? We need more of them... That's what I say...

[teddy51]

24. Yeah, but I do see his Conservative roots coming thru on many of his shows.

Reading his personality (and I'm sorry, but do that allot) I can see the Conservative values there. I have been watching him for some time, and picked this up only in the last couple programs.

[shireen]

57. like what? nt

[Lost-in-FL]

16. Cenk used to be a Republican.

I remember him talking about it one morning during the "Young Turks".

[tularetom]

18. So did I (well, maybe 20 years ago)

Until it dawned on me that if you don't have a 7-digit net worth and you call yourself a Republican, you're being played for a sucker.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. My Dad went from being a Goldwater Republican to an Independent to a Green, so

stranger things have happened. :shrug:

[CreekDog]

23. 1988 Bush campaign volunteer right here

maybe you aren't as smart as you think!

:hi:

[teddy51]

29. lol... Your probably right. n/t

[ashling]

27. Mis posted

:rofl:

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. He's admitted that all along

Where have you been?

[teddy51]

30. I have not heard or seen this before... Oh well shit happens. n/t

[bayareamike]

31. Of course someone can switch.

When I was younger I was much more conservative. Then I researched and learned about the world. It's called growing up.

[Booster]

32. I'm hoping there are a lot of Texas R's coming over to the D side

this election. Most of my friends in Texas can't stomach Perry - even the one's that are R's.

[teddy51]

34. Thanks for the input all, time for bed.... n/t

[bigwillq]

35. People can change.

I won't judge.

[BanzaiBonnie]

36. Ed Schultz has said that a number of times over the years

I used to be a Republican.

[rsmith6621]

37. I CONVERTED FROM BEING A RETHUG

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1921267

[boxman15]

38. I don't like Ed for a lot of reasons, but this isn't one of them.

I know plenty of people who changed political, religious, etc. views in a shorter timeframe. It happens.

[Faryn Balyncd]

39. David Brock, Cenk Uygur , Jim Webb to name a few.

[Phlem]

40. It's no mystery

I've been listening to Ed on the radio for a while, he's always admitted to that.

Now, try giving Norman Goldman some ear time, I like him way more than Ed and he used to sub for Ed when he couldn't do his radio show.

He leaves the lines open for anyone, and every once in a while a teabagger will call in, and he (Norman) doesn't hold back, very good times indeed.

Pod casting's free.

-p

[butterfly77]

78. +1

[boppers]

41. He's still a sneering blowhard fixated on alpha-male stereotypes.

Thus, still a republican in my book.

[Fuddnik]

52. I've seen you advocate more republicanish positions than him.

[boppers]

54. He's the one focused on portraying people as "weak". "cowardly". "ineffectual".

The usual chest-puffery that comes from such folks.

I'm guessing you're more authoritarian left, and I'm more libertarian left, and you see me and my positions outside your comfort zone. Alternately, I'm more science left, and less dogma left, so that could be the divide. I really don't know. There are too many factions to track.

That doesn't make my positions "republicanish".

That being said, let's argue about posts, not posters.

[Jakes Progress]

42. Hmmm. I don't seriously think you know shit.

People change all the time. Were that not so, one party would rule forever. If assholes like perry and grahm can switch from Dem to republican, then it can go the other way.

I've known many who were born into a republican family and took up the family tradition only to start thinking for themselves.

Just admit you have a grudge against Ed and stop writing stupid things to justify it.

[xxqqqzme]

46. When th local liberal radio

carried his program, he was very upfront about his change of heart (and soul).

[krawhitham]

47. He also urged people to stay home for the 2010 election

[demwing]

49. Well thats a problem for me, do you have a link to that?

I sure would hate to see it, but need overcomes desire

[krawhitham]

59. links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUJii0bZqhE&feature=player_embedded
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/jack-coleman/2011/03/19/yes-ed-schultz-you-told-democrats-not-vote-2010

Google has a ton more

[demwing]

61. That's all I needed

If he had said "Vote Green instead of Dem" or "Vote NONE OF THE ABOVE instead of Dem" I could understand...but telling people to not participate is wrong, and denying he did so to a caller is just dumb.

Though full circle, the stuff about him being a Republican is inconsequential.

[sudopod]

50. If not, then why even bother with politics?

We should never try to convince anyone of anything ever.

[zalinda]

51. When religion started to be pushed in the repub party

a lot of moderate repubs quit. I know my ex-in-laws quit the repub party for that exact reason in the late 80's, they would be appalled at what has become of the repub party. She once made the comment that Nixon should have burned those tapes.

I think a lot of moderate repubs joined the dem party, moving the party more and more to the right. Since the liberals had no where to go, they've been forced into being the outsiders. The party leaders have tried to stop the more liberal dems from gaining any seats in DC. This is why Lieberman is still in his seat, the dem party supported him, and ignored Lamont.

zalinda

[MrSlayer]

53. I shudder at my political beliefs from twenty years ago.

You absolutely can change your beliefs. Once you get informed on issues you can see the light. Hell, I voted for Poppy Bush twice. Totally wasted my first two Presidential votes out of ignorance.

[shireen]

56. very simple reason to believe it's possible ...

people are complex. The human mind works in strange and mysterious ways. I've experienced turning points in my life -- epiphanies -- that have profoundly changed my identity.

Ed comes across as passionate, sincere, and caring. I believe him when he says he's a liberal.

Stranger things have happened. Thom Hartmann used to be a Republican when he was young. Look at him now!

[Raine]

58. I strongly disagree. Believing that way means no one can ever

change for the better. It sounds more like what repugs believe, never give a people a second chance, if you commit a crime you'll always be a criminal, etc etc. What a depressing way to think. :-(

[Richardo]

60. I did.

[On the Road]

62. Actually, the Farther Apart the Two Sides are

the more likely a conversion is to happen. Fascists and communists used to recruit from each other.

[BR_Parkway]

64. There are a lot of us who woke up and shook the blinders off one day

the same way people stop believing in religion when the rhetoric fails to match the actions

[NorthCarolina]

65. My sister is a devout Republican who lives by the spoken word of FOX news. I had her take

the political compass test ( http://www.politicalcompass.org/test ) and the results showed her to be a solidly Left Libertarian. It actually created a bit of a hardship for her, and she immediately accused me of setting her up on a site that gives everyone the same ranking regardless of how the questions are answered. She has been effectively brainwashed. At times I am amazed that we grew up in the same household.

[krispos42]

66. I've know that for years.

He talked about it on his radio show long before he got on TV. n/t

[avebury]

67. I switched from Republican to Democrat.

I grew up in the Northeast back when the Republican Party was not so extreme and was a registered Republican for years. Then I moved to a Bible Belt state and having seen how extreme the Republicans are here ran away from the Republican Party as fast as I could. It really made a difference moving to a Red state and it opened my eyes to how batsh** crazy a lot of them are. I eventually switched to being a liberal independent only because I am tired of Obama caving into the Rethugs and Tea Party. I will still vote for Obama but only because he is the lesser of the evils when you look at the Republican field. I would love to see a strong liberal Democrat enter the race.

[WI_DEM]

68. I know people who have.

[bklyncowgirl]

69. So what. The guy saw the light. Intelligent people evolve and change their opions.

I have no problem with this at all.

[Doctor_J]

70. So no one who's ever been a Repuke is allowed to vote Dem now?

Yipes. A Purity Test. Bad idea, IMO

[brentspeak]

71. Anyone else wonder why so many anti-Ed, anti-Dylan, anti-Cenk threads in GD-Presidential?

[flpoljunkie]

72. Perhaps because there's no GD Politics anymore--just GD Presidency.

[boppers]

81. anti-stampede, anti-pile-on, anti-talking-heads...

What do Ed, Dylan, and Cenk have in common?

Why, for example, aren't there anti-Maddow threads? Anti-Savage threads? Anti-Goodman threads?

My answer would be as follows:
Ed, Dylan, and Cenk are all about bumper-stickers and showmanship, trying to increase their ratings with extremist discourse and "angry" attitudes.
Maddow, Savage, and Goodman are all about laying out cogent, thoughtful, arguments.

Basically, I'd surmise that GD-Presidential is pro-intellectual, while Ed, Dylan, and Cenk are fundamentally anti-intellectual, if not in message, in delivery.

[Bryn]

75. When I moved to Arkansas from Florida in 2006 I learned that

most democrats in AR were conservatives. That when Rockefeller ran for Governor as a Republican many democrats in AR panicked because "Rockefeller was too liberal" for them! I was born in democratic family in FL and most of them were conservatives. So I imagined that the Republican Party used to be liberal (look at Ike Eisenhower) before they moved to extreme right to the point of being nutjobs.

[creon]

76. How republican was he?

Was Schultz a strongly ideological Republican?
Or, was he an essentially apolitical person who voted GOP from habit/tradition?

[Puglover]

77. And other breaking news!

On a sunny day the sky tends to be blue!

[AndrewP]

79. No shock. I've listened to Shultz since 1988

He was one of those "God's Only Party" types. God, Guns, Football, Jesus, etc.

I remember in 1996 he was hyping a visit to Fargo by Newt Gingrich and how much he admired him.

Around 2000 or so he was pushing for his buddy Al Carlson to get the GOP nomination for the Governors race, but it ended up going to John Hoeven. He was pissed at that, and even said so on his local radio show.

That seemed to start his slide out of the Party, until he came out as a Democrat locally in 2003.

It's either a gradual move towards the center, or a cynical move towards an open radio market. I tend to lean towards the former. People can change. But I'm cynical enough to think it may have been quickened by his move towards syndicated radio.

[quiller4]

80. I believe conversion is always a real possibility. Ed's wife

is largely responsible for opening both his heart and mind. She got him volunteering at food banks and questioning his old assumptions.

[demwing]

82. I seriously believe that you CAN convert from being a Repug to a Liberal Democrat

What so freaking hard about that. Maybe it just suits you to pretend big Ed is a Repub in disguise, because it allows you to dismiss his criticisms of Obama?

Yeah, that's the ticket...

[MilesColtrane]

83. These types of conversions mystify me, as do swing voters who switch party affiliations regularly.

The only explanation I can come up with is that they were/are quite unaware of political matters.

[Marrah_G]

84. I don't think this is anything new

I'm pretty sure I heard him talk about it years ago and all the things that made him change parties and views.

I like Ed. I think he speaks to a large part of the democratic base. He is very pro union, pro worker, etc.

He is one of the loudest voices we have out there on the radio.

[otohara]

85. I Say Welcome to Dem Party & Thanks

for coming to your senses Ed
Oh and thanks to Wendy

[southernyankeebelle]

86. It wasn't a surprise, that is old news. Yes you can convert that fast. Sometimes

you can see something that your party is doing that is downright nuts and you know in your heart it is right. Ed saw that the working people in this country were getting shit on and he changed. Sometimes it is matter of something bad happens and you see it and you can't do anything about it especially if it is financial. You be surprised how a person can become liberal when you can afford to pay for something.