How did you get here?

[ktowntennesseedem]

No, I'm not talking about how you ended up here at DU, and it has nothing to do with any stork. What I'm curious to know is how you ended up as a Democrat/Liberal/Progressive/etc. What is your political background, what person(s)and experiences shaped your politics?

I'll start. I came from a family of conservative Republicans who, being from the Bible Belt, are also conservative evangelical Christians. I am also a Christian, but have always had a curiosity that questioned everything, so many of my conclusions ended up quite different than that of my family, who generally never question anything. I have never considered myself conservative or Republican, and by the time I could vote I was far more concerned about social implications of the gospel than about traditional conservative values. My parents still love me, but scratch their heads trying to figure out how I arrived at such heretic beliefs (guess they shouldn't have sent me to college!) Plus they blame my wife, also a Christian but wasn't raised in church as I was, for corrupting me.

Any other stories? Just wondering!

[Sympleesmshn]

1. My Parents are dems...

My grandfathers are Repubs. I chose myself to make the journey here, I was not force by my parents and don't spit out what ever they tell me to believe unlike many kids my age (17-18)...

[rox63]

2. My family was conservative

But not the religious-right type. More like the libertarian/objectivist flavor of conservative. Once I was old enough to follow politics, I rebelled against my family's party line, and went liberal. And I've never looked back. My family thinks I must be some sort of genetic fluke. Perhaps growing up in Massachusetts also contributed to my liberal bent.

[xray s]

3. I am the sole liberal orchid blooming in a feeper swamp

Behold, truth and beauty can survive even in a freeper swamp.

[bluedipper]

6. hmm

most of my family was republican. I was the silent Gore supporter of 2000 when I was just 14. Than after about 6 months into Bush's first term, mom changed her mind, than dad did, than grandma did, than my aunt did, I still have a few republican family members NONE of them being religious conservatives, they just don't like the "liberal way" however I still get along with them well. -BD
WWW.CAFEPRESS.COM/BLUEDIPPER

[ktowntennesseedem]

27. Love the image and the imagery. Thanks!

[mwb970]

4. For me it was growing up in the 60s.

Sgt. Pepper. Flower power. Peace, love, the ultimate trip. When I got tear gassed by Nixon's tin soldiers on the Ohio State campus in 1970, I darn well knew I wasn't a Republican.

[Enquiringkitty]

14. Me too! I still think like the 60s. Was arrested in Atlanta during a

sit-in and kept asking, "what about free speech?" my answer was a punch in the mouth and the officer said, "Shut communist". Spent three days in jail until my friend came up with the bail. Was no punishment, met several cool new friends and heard about more sit-in coming up to go to.
I was at the rally at Jackson State, so was my brother. I was a protester and he was national guard .... weird family dynamics!

[XemaSab]

5. E-mail from my uncle

"I just got back from the grocery store where there was a vehicle with a W 04 sticker and a stanferd u. sticker too. when no one was looking I put a swastika on the W sticker. i feel very bad for my act of defacing this sticker."

Yeah, I'm sure he'll lose a lot of sleep over it. :-)

This is the sentiment of my whole family.

[bluedipper]

8. ...

I never would do that, but I do think it is funny :lol:!

[mwb970]

17. What if someone made teeny tiny little swastika stickers...

You could stick them on top of a W sticker & the poor guy probably wouldn't notice for days.

[XemaSab]

28. I'd frankly be afraid to place the order for that

"Hi, I'd like 2000 swastika stickers please."

That's a good way to get on someone's list.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

7. Other: I came from a family of die-hard Labour (UK) supporters

back when they were recognisably socialist. My family were pro-Labour for socioeconomic reasons and voted for them because of economic interest.

As my own political consciousness grew it become evident that the Democratic Party was the best party to lead the US for economic reasons and issues of international stability. When I got into a relationship with an American who was a huge liberal, my support for the Democratic Party intensified.

I have called myself a socialist ever since I was 10 years old and my philosophy is developing all of the time.

Whilst the Democratic Party is not socialist, I still prefer their liberal/progressive/moderate values to the conservative/reactionary/fascistic values of the Republicans.

[Lucky Luciano]

9. I am unusual

I was sort of the Alex P Keaton of my family in that I was always fascinated with Wall Street and was extremely competitive and interested in business. My mother is communist all the way as is her entire extended family (The old people on her side were Depression era communists) and my father was left wing and more like a European socialist as opposed to the full blown communist. I was more interested in money (because I like numbers in general - a mathemetician). So, I was always pro-business and all about doing what it takes to get ahead....I was never a social conservative - I am all in favor of having orgies and allowing gay people to do whatever they want...I am pro choice by default too I guess and I don't give a flying fuck about religion unless it appears in government - if it does appear I want it to be eliminated viciously and immediately.

Then came b*sh......

I still have the competitive Wall St thing going on in me, and I am fighting to get my own, but man oh man....I seriously hate b*sh and the rest of his evil cabal of neo-conmen. I really really hate him...The president who is singlehandedly destroying our country in every which way. I mean the man is a perfect indicator for what not to do. If I were president, I would immediately hire b*sh to me my Chief of Staff. Whatever he advises me to do, I just do the opposite because I am guaranteed to know that the opposite of what he suggests is the correct course of action and my presidency would be almost perfect.

So all my life I thought I was the conservative type...and I probably still am in the libertarian sense of the word (Although pure Laissez Fairre which many far right leaning libertarians espouse is corporate anarchy and not good either).

Then came b*sh.....

[underseasurveyor]

10. From a long line of staunch Liberals

that came down from Canada :toast:
Hey if it ain't broke, don't fix it or change it, ay :-)

My mother is mostly to blame though. It's all her fault I am the way I am ;-)

:hi: Thanks Mom!

[n2mark]

11. My father, brother and sister are all Dems.

If I became a puke which I will never do, my father and brother will rise from the dead I tell you. They would haunt me all the way to the voting polls.

[mike_c]

12. conservative family-- I haven't spoken with any of them...

...except my mother in nearly two decades, and she also bailed a few years ago. I have three brothers and a stepfather. All conservative fundy christians of the worst sort, IMO-- the kind who use their faith to justify intolerance and bigotry. Oh, did I mention that we're all southerners? I don't know how I turned out so differently. I never bought the religious bit, never for an instant. I've always been a committed liberal-- no conversion experience, I've always been this way.

[Catherine Vincent]

13. I was pretty much Independent but the persecution of President Clinton

is what made me a die hard Dem.

[Lucky Luciano]

15. I agree

That is a good point...the persecution of Clinton was never justified to me either....I became very wary of all the republicans who were after him and that had a lot to do with me being a democrat. I should say that I was motly apolitical before 2000. I knew I had a lot of libertarian conservative views, but when b*sh ran in 2000 he scared me although I was politically completely uninformed at the time. I just thought that something smelled bad when a family was setting up a presidential dynasty. As it turned out, my hunch was more than correct.

[onehandle]

16. I'm a die hard Communist.

WE WILL BURY YOU!





(just giving the local freeper peeper a thrill)

[walldude]

18. Honestly how did I get here?

Drugs. Yeah sounds crazy I know. But when I was about 17 I started getting high, and it was like the veil that was covering the truth was lifted. It didn't happen overnight, but I'd say after about a year of smoking dope and eating mushrooms you couldn't get me any further to the left. Not that I recommend this method to anyone, it's not exactly the healthiest way to go about it but it worked for me...

[Maestro]

19. None of the above

I used to frequent another forum that became extremely freeper infested. The things that were said were just insanse so I sought out refuge with like minded individuals about a year ago. I have been here ever since. My one year anniversary is this month and I am still now tired of this place. I love it and it is one of the few places to which I donate money.

[Imalittleteapot]

20. Republican family. Civil rights issues set me a part

from them -- Robert Kennedy and a little book, "To Kill a Mockingbird", had a huge influence on my path to becoming a liberal. The family has progressed a little. They claim that they aren't bigots :crazy: , they just don't want to live next to blacks and they don't want their tax dollars supporting crack babies and their whore mothers...no kidding! So, I rarely speak to them.

[all.of.me]

21. grew up in the 60s...

...and never looked back.

my entire family are republicans. they are all rich! my 91 year old mother even said, after this last election, "Some day you'll get it." she's known me for 51 years, yet she still doesn't know me!

[absolutezero]

22. long, complicated story

My best explanation is that I'm a scientist at heart, I want to know the truth and use it for good.

My mom is a Democrat, but not diehard (she voted for Raygun and shrub) and my dad only registered to vote this past election out of sheer hatred for monkeyboy, My stepmother is "independent" like faux is impartial journalism, she insists that clinton should have been executed for treason and threatened to toss me out of the house if I voted for Kerry (didn't stop me)

[theorist]

23. Got here on my own.

My dad told me he was two busy raising two kids to be concerned with politics. He's a liberal now, though!

[KaliTracy]

24. actually, make that "one Dem in my family" -- Mom is Dem, dad is

Republican. They aren't married anymore (he's also bi-polar among other things) -- but she married another Republican (He was a lot nicer, though, and could speak civilly about politics, and best of all, they were happy together -- he died of cancer about 8 yrs ago, though...)

When I was growing up the politics at the dinner table were pretty intense sometimes. I took his mindless prejudice only so long, and as soon as I started pointing opposing opinions to him, he'd become pretty enraged ("How dare I question what he says" attitude) -- so we didn't engage often (and when we did, I suddenly was "too much like your mother.") I gladly left home to go college.

Mom has 6 brothers and sisters, and have Sioux Indian in their background, but Grandfather never talked of his father, and in fact, shunned his whole heritage (his mother was a spiritual medium, he didn't talk about that either). Some of the aunts and uncles are close in age to me (4, 5, 7 yrs.) -- yet are so homophobic and racist, it just sickens me. I can deal with them on one level, but on another, just have to leave the room. I've never felt like I've belonged. Dad's side was even worse, but haven't been a part of their family for over 20 years.

[ProgressiveConn]

25. My parents were never interested but my family is solidly Republican.

On both sides the Religious Right (Both Catholic and Protestant extremists) and Corporatist Thieves. I only really became interested in politics when Bush beat McCain.

[proud patriot]

26. Born in 69 to 2 Hippies

:hi: they both are more Left than I am :shrug:

[youngdem]

29. I moved to the south,

I saw the depressed state of the area, got angry, started to rebel. No one wanted to help or listen, politicians just stuffed their pockets, attended "catfish" festivals and turned a blind eye.

BTW, the " parish" I lived in ranked in the top three of the poorest areas per capita in the country. I informed my die hard repub. family that I was not in their "group." That was twelve years ago, since then my father, and brother have come over to the democratic party.

[OnionPatch]

30. The family wasn't always Democrats

My parents parents were all staunch Republicans but they made the mistake of educating their kids. Guess they shouldn't have sent them to Berkeley! :) Most of my aunts and uncles are very liberal. I have a cousin who spent jail time for protesting the School of the Americas. My mother has always been politically active (on the left of course) and still is even though she's 75. She's the one who taught me everything and I respect her to no end. My siblings, but for one moderate brother-in-law, are all active lefties. My dad was a racist and your typical freeper (God rest his tortured soul.) The only conservatives left in the family are Mom's twin brother (go figure) and their kids who are pretty much apolitical but brainwashed to vote GOP.

I've always been a questioning person who is not content to just accept things at face value. I don't think I would have been a Republican even if the family was.

[karlrschneider]

31. My early history paralled yours but I became a Democrat & atheist

during college. That was 40 yrs. ago...

[ktowntennesseedem]

34. College was the turning point for me as well.

I never lost my faith, in fact I would say it is stronger now than ever before. But my faith was seriously challenged at times, and at this point of my spiritual pilgrimage my beliefs are nothing like the belief system I was expected to parrot. My God is bigger than any theological constraints that we might try to impose in order to be more comfortable with and in control of our faith. My faith requires that I keep as open a mind as possible, because no matter what I say I believe, God is always surprising me.

[BuyingThyme]

32. I think, therefore I am

(liberal/progressive)

[Greylyn58]

33. Raised up as a Dem

My grandparents were strong Dems and their daughter-my mom-passed it on to her kids.(although I beginning to wonder about my youngest brother) She has worked a long time in her voting precinct and now for the last 5 years has been the Democratic Judge. She enjoys working the elections.

My whole family is Democratic. When I turned 18 in 1976 I was so excited that I would be voting for the first time and it was going to be a Presidential election. I have never understood why some take no part in elections. My ex-brother-n-law never voted and when he complained one time told him that as long as he didn't vote he had know right to complain.

[devinsgram]

35. Voted rebel, but truth is I am smarter.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

36. A family of lefties and the USMC.

My grandmother came from Ireland, hated the landowners and their thugs. My father was from Arkansas and moved to California during the depression. Worked in the San Francisco shipyards and joined the ILWU and a Socialist.

I was apolitical, but always felt for the underdog, until I foolishly joined the marines. 4 years of the military form of fascism and the civil rights movement awakened me. The war in Vietnam capped it off for me. Note: I am not a Vietnam Vet. I refused to extend my enlistment in 1965 to go fight the "commies".

Was very active in the anti-war movement. Flirted with with various forms of socialism during those years. Finally settled on the anarchism of the Gandhi/Tolstoy type. Non-violence. Communitarian. Anti-authoritarian. Socialist.

[movie_girl99]

37. my mom and dad have always voted Dem

but siblings and ex husband are repubs.I think the first time I voted was for Perot but have voted Dem ever since.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

41. You rock :-)

:yourock:

[SmokingJacket]

38. I was born the day Bobby Kennedy died.

I always indentified with him and felt a kinship with him.

Plus my family was mostly liberal when I was a child, though not anymore.

I'm a big reader too: I don't know how you can read a lot and not become a liberal.

[ktowntennesseedem]

39. Absolutely.

And the reverse of that is true also: the only way you can stay a conservative is to close your eyes, put your fingers in your ears and repeat, "la, la, la, la, I can't hear you!"

[lonestarnot]

40. Got here with critical thinking at age first able to vote.

Parents dems, but had to test waters for myself long ago. Anyone that works for a living and votes for repukes is one slice short of a loaf.

[inslee08]

42. My immediate family

is all Dems, even though I think they were previously registered independent. And I lived a few years in Brookline, MA, which IMO is one of the most liberal places in the country.

I guess it was a combination of both family and surroundings.

[MsTryska]

43. I can't honestly say......

I know most of my exposure to politics was discussing the news over dinner as a family most nights when i was growing up.

As it stands - my folks were old-style republicans (financially it worked for them), but my dad is more of a social liberal/populist.

I, myself, pretty much have the same views as I did when i was 12 or 13. Not that i'm stuck in some mindset, so much as my core beliefs are applicable to whatever new situation we find ourselves in.

My sister is closer to green party, my brother i believe is a republican. (he may not be, but he's military, so until he and i have that discussion i'll err on the side of caution)


As for me, i think a lot of what i believe is based on civil liberties for myself, as well as the compassion for others that I was raised with, being from a well-off family from a 3rd world country, where it is ingrained that you give to those who have less within the culture itself, as well as years of catholic school, where those same ideals were hammered into us in religion class.