Question for former republicans or conservatives

[burythehatchet]

Please note the word "former". I'm not looking to engage trolls in this thread, I only engage trolls face to face.

You obviously had a change in attitude that brought you here. Something triggered that change. What more needs to be exposed about TMFB that would finally crack through the illusions that are faced by those who have not yet seen the light?

Have we reached a saturation point? What percentage of conservatives will not be reached no matter what? For example, I believe that within the next year or two it will be common knowledge that the neocons engineered 9/11 (I used to be LIHOP but now I'm MIHOP because of the previous relationships that the neocons had with the hijackers). Even when that is revealed, there will be a core of people who will say, "well we needed for it to happen to do what needed to be done". How big is that percentage, in your opinion?

[Freedom_from_Chains]

1. I left the GOP because

They were taken over by religious zealots that stand for everything other than core American values, such as like, freedom.

[burythehatchet]

2. You're right about that, the only only thing they DO stand for is $$

which they get by pouring the kool-aid for their followers.

[Blind Tiresias]

8. damn straight

The GOP used to be about fiscal responsibility and personal freedom. But the agenda these nutjobs push is nauseating, and ultimately anti-freedom. I am even more infuriated by practicing physicians like Frist (the assclown), Coburn and James Dobson pushing completely unsubstatiated clown science to run their perverted agendas.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

10. Yeah it has gotten completly out of hand

The GOP has always had that radical element in it. However, prior to Regan they were always regulated to the back room. That was the thing I always thought Regan did that was so damaging. He more clearly organized them into a political unit, thereby earning himself the White House, but it was at that point they became political aware.

From there on out it was downhill to the mess we are in today from these psychotic zealots.

[stray cat]

3. I was an independent who leaned republican.

I believe in fiscal responsibility and Bush Co spent all of the work Clinton has done to provide a surplus for tax breaks that favored corporations and the super wealthy. I also learned how much the republicans and the media had lied about Al Gore and how Bush mislead the people about what his real intentions were in both foreign and domestic policy. The extreme bias and irresponsibility of Bush and repub. to corporations and the super rich has made me into a firm populist.

[Aristus]

4. I've always been a liberal, but during the Reagan years, when

I was a teenager, I fell for the "The Pride is back!" propaganda bullshit; all the faux-patriotic, flag-flailing horse puckey that the Repukes dine out on. I liked Reagan and thought that doing so made me a conservative.

I started finding my way back around Election '92 when all the people I knew who were supporting Bush Sr. were filthy, despicable, bigoted hate-filled people. I ended up voting for him, but that was the last time I EVER voted Repuke; even at the local level.

Although I am straight, I really got behind Clinton's idea of allowing gays to serve openly (my innate liberalism coming to the fore). I was pissed off when he was forced to compromise, and appalled by the bigotry and racism of everyone around me who was a Bushie. In 1996, I voted for Bill Clinton, and I've voted solid Dem ever since; I've never even voted for an independent.

[burythehatchet]

5. Thanks for sharing your experience

Although I've never ever considered voting for a Republican, I too was a little bit jingoistic in my youth. I remeber back in 84 (?) when Reagan had two Libyan jets shot down over the Mediterranean. I was living in Paris at the time and felt proud. Now I can't even face the reasons why I felt proud.

[Aristus]

6. That's why we're here, my friend.

It's like a recovery group. :-)

[jdj]

14. It's called "Jingoism" and it's made a comeback.

That's what this generation of young people is being assailed with.

[kcass1954]

7. No longer a "recovering" republican, I'm completely cured!

I have 3 siblings, and we come from a long, long line of conservative Southern republicans. When we turned 18, my mother went with us down to the courthouse to register to vote. I suspect that her role was to make sure that we registered with the "correct" party. That's a moot point now, since it was over 30 years ago and my mother is no longer alive. I voted for Nixon in 72. Then in 76, I graduated from college and went out into the world away from home. And I discovered Jimmy Carter. He seemed like a much better choice than Ford, being I wasn't thrilled that Ford had pardoned Nixon.

But the real awakening came when Reagan was elected in 80. As he was inaugurated, I realized that as a working mother who hoped to have children and as a compassionate and caring human being, that the republican party had nothing left to offer me.

Since that time, both of my brothers have also left the republican party. My sister is totally hopeless.

[burythehatchet]

9. what a warm story

Reagan's election was the event that woke me up. I had worked for John Anderson's campaign when I was in upstate NY, and when Reagan was elected I was a political novice but I knew that some really bad shit was going to go down. That was at the age of 20, when I was a Junior at SUNY Albany

[Lindacooks]

11. I used to be a Republican.

It's hard to believe now, but that's how I was raised, in a conservative household and conservative parochial schools.

I woke up and started to think when I met my DH. He was transforming from a Republican to a Dem and we had many discussions on this topic. The thing that really got me started was the Repuke's attitude toward the environment. Everything else snowballed from there and now I'm more liberal than he is.

Of course, my parents think he 'corrupted' me, as though I can't think for myself. They're still conservative and we don't talk about it.

[SharonAnn]

12. I was Republican until 1982-1983. There were three issues that did it.

1. The Environment. James Watt trying to sell off our national forests for logging and mining.

2. Women's rights in employment and choice. Reagan tried to de-fang the EEOC and he did de-fund women's access to birth-control as part of "foreign aid".

3. The Religious Right. They're very, very scary. They tried to run a "stealth campaign" to take over the Ohio State Board of Education when I lived there. Appalling.

I thought I was independent for a few years but I found myself always voting Democratic and then I realized that I support everything the Democratic Party stands for.

[Ladyhawk]

13. I left the GOP because I left the fundamentalist religion.

When I learned to think for myself, I left the religion of my youth. In the past four years, I have become both an atheist and a Democrat.

The reason I switched to the Democratic Party is that George W. Bush got my attention. Before he was elected, I paid very little attention to politics. I actually voted for him in 2000, thinking the choice was between "Dumb" and "Dumber." He got my attention when he switched attention from Afghanistan to Iraq. The news media got my attention when they seemed to think this was a good idea. I thought, "Hmmm, the news media isn't supposed to be cheerleading a war." Strangely enough, Star Wars: Episode II also woke me up a bit. Palpatine created a war to divert attention from his takeover of the Senate.

It was then that I started an online investigation that began with such sites as Take Back the Media. I got more and more pissed off as I realized I had been taken for a ride. At the first opportunity--The County Fair in 2002--I ditched the group of fundies who had invited me and changed affiliations. I can remember my friends saying, "Aren't you joining the wrong Party?" I said, "No. George W. Bush is a fraud."

Nowadays, I don't "do" fundies, anymore. They'll backstab you every single fucking time.

[solinvictus]

15. Former Republican voter...

I left the Republicans because of several issues. First, despite their public support for "free enterprise" and a "market economy", they heavily stack the deck through deregulation, watered down anti-trust laws, and tax breaks to favor huge established corporations. The people very lawmakers who screech loudest about socialism are all in favor of it providing it benefits their donor base.

On the same note, the Republicans have done nothing tangible for the working and middle class since Nixon. Because they are corporate shills, they favor such treasonous practices as outsourcing, importing foreign labor, and removing the right of workers to collectively bargain. They have declared open war against the middle class.

How do you reach them? If they're blue collar, stop pushing gun control as an issue, link core environmental issues to outdoor activities (hunting, camping, and fishing), and explain the link to quality education and their kids' future. Explain that deficits will cripple our economy for years to come as Bush has shifted the tax burden from the wealthiest Americans onto us. Core bread-and-butter issues will get them to listen.