So what's the political leanings of your family members?

[Godhumor]

My family is rather large by modern standards as I have a mother (teacher), stepmother (scientist), father (scientist), and 4 siblings (scientist, future lawyer, future computer engineer, and an HR representative). Every single one of us votes Democratic and hold rather liberal ideals. I have no idea how it happened, but I'm very thankful that it has.

I know many of my left-leaning friends are members of rather conservative families, and, while they love each other tremendously, it causes a considerable amount of strain around certain issues. I'm curious to see how many people on DU have found themselves in which situation.

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. My family:

Father (deceased): Democrat/liberal
Mother: Democrat/liberal
Sis and bro in law #1: Democrat/liberal

Sis and bro in law #2: Republican. One time out for dinner and drinks. Bro in law says Katrina was a "local" problem. I pounded the table so hard that all the plates flew off it. We don't discuss politics anymore.

[Aristus]

2. My family:

Mother: Liberal Democrat. Graduated from LBJ's alma mater, and marched in Kennedy's inauguration parade.
Sister: Liberal Democrat.
Brother: VERY Liberal Democrat, with elements of the anarchist in him.
Father: Once a left-leaning moderate, grew more conservative as he got older, now back to a sensible moderate independent.
Wife: Apolitical, but supports a sort of non-neo-con Goldwater conservative Republicanism. Hates Bush, and despises the war in Iraq. Doesn't vote.
In-Laws: Rabid Pro-Bush conservative Repukes. My f-in-l has an autographed pic of the Chimp hanging in his home office. Wealthy and successful contractor who was a high school drop-out. Thinks we should eliminate public education, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all public lands. Followers of a kind of crazy "Let's-all-get-rich-and-go-to-Heaven" prosperity gospel perversion of Christianity. For holiday gatherings, I always volunteer to lead the prayer before the meal, lest one of them subject us to a "Gawd bless George W. Bush for killing alla them Mooslims" travesty of divine communication.

[Lil Missy]

3. My mother lives in my house, has alway been a staunch Republican,

She thinks anything said bad about GW or him getting caught in a lie is conspiracy, and people are just picking on him. She also believes Saddam Hussein was behind 911, because GW and Cheney said so.

She never votes, so I am not worried about it.

[csziggy]

4. Mixed

Parents: Southern conservatives but not Right Wing Nuts, just old fashioned and set in their ways (They are in their mid-80s and deserve some respect for raising mostly sane children.)
My Siblings: All survivors liberal Democrats (Deceased sister took after parents)
Husband, MIL, Husband's brothers and one sister: liberal Democrats (one brother was front man for McGovern in a very conservative county, also worked for Carter's campaign - Rosemary slept at MIL's house)
One SIL & her husband: fundie Right Wing Nuts

Husband's other formerly Republican BIL has now converted. Even he could not stomach the current misadministration.

Rule in both families - when in mixed political company we do not discuss politics. I've skipped holiday gatherings when they were held at the RWN household - especially 2000 and 2004.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. They are a bit to the right of Darth Vader. I am the black sheep.

[fizzgig]

6. mom, dad and seeseter are all very liberal

as far as extended family goes, i tend to not discuss politics with my mother's side and it appears some of my relatives on my father's side are tending to lean to the right a bit more.

[huskerlaw]

7. Heh.

All of the following live in Nebraska:
Mom (retired nurse): Bush-supporting religious conservative
Step-dad (retired military contractor): Bush-supporting conservative, with a pro-military bent
Step-sister #1 (stay-at-home mom): Bush-supporting religious conservative
Step-sister #2 (stay-at-home mom): Bush-supporting religious conservative

This one lives in Iowa:
Sister (high school teacher): Democrat, but not very politically active. Hates Bush with a passion, based mostly on her intense hatred of No Child Left Behind

These live in Nevada:
Dad (pharmacist): Probably a libertarian. Hates all politicians, but hates Bush most of all.
Step-mom (pharmacist): Not really political, but if forced would probably call herself a Democrat. Thinks Bush is a complete fucking moron (don't we all?).

Aunts and uncles on every side except my Dad's are conservative Republicans. Dad's side is mostly Democrats, with a few greenies and a libertarian tossed in.

...and then there's me. My mom wonders what went wrong, I wonder what went right. :P

[nomorenomore08]

8. We don't really discuss politics among the extended family, but...

self: strong liberal, leaning toward socialist
parents: about the same as me, Nation subscribers and such
sister: generally liberal AFAIK, but somewhat tempered by the fact that she's a practicting Catholic attending a relatively conservative university
aunts, uncles, cousins (on both sides): not sure, but they seem mainly moderate to liberal
maternal grandmother (only living grandparent): generally liberal, very anti-Bush, but sort of "old-fashioned" if you catch my drift

[u4ic]

9. Mostly red Tories

though I think my brother (whom I rarely speak to - I'm not close to most of my family save one sister) is a Harper-ite, ie neo-con.

I never knew what my late mother voted. We never discussed it.

[ghostsofgiants]

10. Interesting question.

I guess my dad is kinda liberal. If he was American he'd vote for Democrats. Votes Liberal up here. Not a fan of Bush.

My mom is somewhat less liberal, kinda conservative on some issues. She is one of those people who could be swayed either way in an election season. Bit of a homophobe and fairly pro-military.

I have two brothers, one of whom I have no idea about, though I would guess he's pretty apolitical. He's 18 and too concerned with hockey and beer to care about politics.

My other brother, who is 17, is a lot like I was at his age. Definitely leans pretty far to the left and will probably move further left over time, kinda like I have, haha.

[Juche]

11. Mine

Parents: Radical right wing fanatics. I don't debate with them anymore because, with all due respect, they are not too bright on political issues. 90% of what they believe is just superficial reasoning, misinformation or talking points from RW radio. I'm basically like Lisa Simpson at this point, when they say something false I start to say 'but thats not true...' and I start to dig up some facts I have come across over the years then I just groan a bit and say 'nevermind'. I'm not trying to convert them, but some admission that facts play a role in their opinion making would be nice.

Older brother & his wife: Right wing, but more rational. I can have something of a discussion with them, but it is still hard because they really aren't very informed either. But at least they are open to ideas or conversation. They aren't really arrogantly misinformed like my parents are, they are more uninformed due to lack of time. They both work and have kids to raise and between that and housework they have little time for politics.

Younger brother: liberal. Has told me I should move to California with him because the political climate is so more mature.

I really have to move out of rural Indiana. I have tried to calculate how much money I have to give to voter drive organizations like ACORN or Moveon to counteract the voting power of my family. I have to donate at least enough money to counteract 4 voters, so I assume $40-50 should do it.

[crim son]

12. Parents, grandparents: generally conservative

though Mom could never stomach GWB. My sisters, all of us vote Dem. You'd have to be fucking nuts not to.

[BreweryYardRat]

13. Bit of a rant.

Dad: Goldwater-style Republican without the bigotry. Believes we should have universal health care and doesn't like the military-industrial complex. Does watch Fox "News," though. Does not vote.

Mom: Ignorant, arrogant, bigoted, miserly, going senile. Has drunk a small lake of the Right-Wing Kool-Aid by now. Believes almost every stupid talking point/RW propaganda e-mail she gets (and worse, forwards them to me.) Uses nothing but strawmen in her arguments. Voted for Dole back in '96, and Bush twice. Only voted for a Democrat in the '06 House of Representatives election because my dad knew the Republican candidate through business and knew the schmuck was corrupt as all hell. (It was Vern Buchanan, and surprise surprise, Dad was right.) Ironically, for all her bitching and moaning about "those lazy welfare queens," she was perfectly content to mooch $1700-$2000 a month off of Dad in alimony payments for something like eight years, and held a job for maybe 2.5 of those years. Dad finally had to get back together with her to keep the bills from shredding him.

I could go into much more detail (and expletives), but people have bitched at me in the past for doing that, and I don't need the drama.

[last_texas_dem]

14. Immediate family would fit in here

My mother, father, sister, brother-in-law, and myself are all liberal Democrats, although those of us in the younger generation are more politically active than my parents are/were. I think us being into politics has influenced them, though, and gotten them more into keeping up with things. My mom and dad both called themselves "Independents" (even though they never voted for Republicans) until 2000, when Bush caused them to see the light!

My mom's parents are both fairly liberal Democrats, her mom moreso than her dad. My dad's father is a right-wing conservative pretty much down the line except, oddly, pro-choice.

As for extended family, well... :scared: There are a couple of other Democrats, a fair number of not particularly politically knowledgeable "moderates" and a frighteningly large number of (mostly West Texas) religious right Bush-loving wingnuts. But I rarely have to see most of them, so I try not to think about it!

[Fox Mulder]

15. Everyone in my immediate family is liberal.

My brother-in-law claims he's liberal but he supports Ron Paul for President. :eyes:

[devilgrrl]

16. Mine...

My bro and fellow DUer - LIBERAL
My step-bro - left leaning
My step-sis and husband - center leaning left
My older bro - American Enterprise Institute-ish Freeper
Parents - Typical $80,000 a year (1980's 80 thousand) billionaires... center/right

[LeftyMom]

17. Mom is a pro-labor yellow dog dem, kid sister is a socially liberal dem,

I don't know how they voted in the primary.

Dad is a hate radio listener, but identifies as libertarian-leaning and is a registered independent. He used to say positive things about Republicans, but lately he's decidedly unenthusiastic about politics, I'm not sure if he feels let down by the right or just doesn't want to argue with me about it.

The kid's Dad voted for Kucinich in the primary, and will vote either Dem or Green in the general depending on how things go. Of the two still in the running, he doesn't have a big preference on issues, but likes the idea of a woman being in charge. Weird, because he refused to vote for Gore due to his dislike of Pres. Clinton.

Oh, and my boyfriend is a raging Republican. He mumbles Mike Huckabee's name in his sleep and then wakes up with sticky sheets. Don't let his whole "I'm crazy fucking liberal and I think the sun shines out Dennis Kucinich's teeny tiny ass" routine fool you. ;)

[asteroid2003QQ47]

18. Insidious and absurd.

They're Christians!

[QMPMom]

19. It's also a somehat contentious issue in my family:

Dad: (deceased) was a Republican just because of family history. His beliefs were Democratic. (Grain Dealer)
Bio-Mom (deceased) was a left-leaning Republican. (Accountant)
Stepmother: Republican to the core. Contributed to Bush's campaigns. (Teacher/retired)
Sister: Hard core Republican. (Teacher)
Brother-in-law: Hard core Republican. (????? Professional TV Watcher?)
Stepsister: Hard core Republican. (Works for Delta)
Maternal Grandfather: (deceased) Stubborn Republican. (Grain Dealer)
Maternal Grandmother: (deceased) Hard core Republican. Threatened to disinherit me if I went to a Carter rally in 1976.(Stay at home Mom)
Me: Very left of center Democrat (RN by training; work in retail)
Husband: Would vote Democrat if American, NDP in Canada. (retired Teacher)
Son: NDP in Canada except for military issues. (Student)
Mother-in-Law: (deceased) Liberal to NDP in Canada (Medical Secretary)
Father-in-Law: (deceased) NDP in Canada (University Postal Service)
Sister-in-Law: (husband's sister) Ultra Right-wing Conservative in Canada. Religious NUT. (Stay at home mother)
Brother-n-Law: (DH's sisters H) Ultra Right-wing Coservative in Canada. (Farmer)
ALL Nieces and Nephews on DH's side: Ultra Right-wing Conservative in Canada.

It's best not to talk politics with my family. It has led to bitter arguments.

[LaurenG]

20. My parents and two brothers were republican (dad deceased in 2005)

my sister, two kids, husband and I are democrats. After the bush fiasco we're all democrats. I think this is the first time ever we are all on the same page.

[YankeyMCC]

21. Unfortunately I would have to say "uninformed"

Because many claim to be independent or even liberal on some issues but they tend to spout conservative and even right wing nonsense when they get to talking. Then when I question them they get flustered and just assert their positions despite the lack of facts to back up their position and the facts I present to them.

[Burma Jones]

22. OK

Wife (38) - Northeastern Liberal Elite, always votes Democrat

Grandmother (101) - New Deal Democrat, thinks Bush is the "most pathetic little Drug Addict" she's ever seen.

Dad (71) - New Deal Democrat, detests the hypocrisy of the Right and the debunking of the American myth by the Left, but will just as soon cut off his foot as vote for a Republican.

Mom (68) - Votes for whomever seems nicer, thinks that makes her intellectual since she is willing to vote for either party.

Brother 1 (46) - Will not discuss politics, will not talk about for whom he's voting. Supports undocumented workers as he is a General Contractor and appreciates the work ethic.

Brother 2 (43) - Rabid Right Wing Texas Republican. A Dittohead supreme.

Brother 3 (25) - New York struggling filmmaker with large student loan debt. Hates public assistance since he's not getting any. More Libertarian than anything else I suppose.

Brother 4 (25) - Twin to Brother #3, already has his MS in Forensic Biology from GW, starting a job with the NYPD Crime Lab next month, wants to go to Med School in a few years. Basic well-educated liberal, supports Obama and whomever roots for the Tar Heels.....This is the family member with whom I am most similar politically.

Stepmom (57) - DLC-type Democrat mostly

Stepdad (73) - Texas Republican, hates the idea that people get public assistance, yet worked for NASA and as a Contractor his entire adult life. If Welfare were couched as Defense spending, he'd be all for it.

Father in Law (70) - He's just looking for the most competent government as he can find so he donated to Bill Richardson's campaign, so did I.

Mother in Law (70) - Another member of the Northeastern Liberal Elite

[Tommy_Carcetti]

23. All of us lean left to an extent....

My parents are old fashioned culturally and socially conservative, but liberal in other aspsects such as economics/role of government, international affairs and the environment. My dad has always been registered a Democrat and lists Jimmy Carter as one of his heroes. My mother was originally registered a Republican but hasn't voted for a Republican president since Nixon. She finally officially switched over to the Democratic party in 2004. Both of them voted for Kerry (their first major party candidate either had voted for since 1988 and Dukakis.)

My older sister is probably the most liberal--very strongly liberal on international affairs and the environment in particular. She actually protested against nuclear weapons with Martin Sheen at one point, so she's got pretty good liberal cred.

I don't know exactly where my little sis stands. She's still trying to figure herself out, but I definetly think she leans left. She was a big supporter of Martin O'Malley for governor in Maryland.

I personally am somewhere between my older sister and my parents. I'm socially moderate but rather liberal on all other things.

[MorningGlow]

24. Definitely be thankful you are among liberals

Unfortunately, my family's more red than blue.

Mr. MG: *sigh* Republican. But he says he's not--the last refuge of Repubs who find themselves backing politicos who end up freaking them out.

Mom: liberal Dem, although she doesn't know it--but she haaaaates the Bush cabal and everything to do with them. She's 83 and lived through the first Depression, and she says we're in another, no matter what the pundits say. Plus she says this isn't America anymore. Tell it, mom! :applause:

Aunt (mom's sister): Fundie-Catholic Rush-lovin' O'Reilly-listenin' Hannity-droolin' far-right-wing Bush-lover. I care about her because she's my relative, but nobody's allowed to bring up politics when we're in the same room for fear of nukular blast.

Brother: Pretty red--lives in California and says Governor Ah-nuld was better than "the alternative." I mean...seriously?

SIL (bro's wife): :shrug: I have no idea.

SIL (Mr. MG's sister): Bright red Bush-defender. It's pretty sickening.

MIL: Dem, thank goodness, although she keeps it quiet because she depends on my SIL for companionship. Is horrified by the Bush admin. She doesn't know where her two children came from. Mars, apparently.

MG Jr.: Future commie pinko hippy-dippy tie-dyed liberal. Yeah, okay, he's 4, but it doesn't hurt to start early! :evilgrin:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. liberals, mostly for obama. i think i am the odd ball out

[flvegan]

27. Because you like McCain?

:evilgrin:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. atleast i dont vote for huckabee and eat chicken fried steak for breakfast

:P

[flvegan]

26. My mom is a new Dem.

Doesn't like Hillary, would probably vote Obama. My brother...sigh. Hardcore Republican. The last of the "vote the party, not the person" mindset in my bloodline. Was mad when Romney dropped out. Makes for fun table conversation, but we're not mean about it.

My housemate, whom I consider family, is a Kucinich backer just like me.

LeftyMom, as you probably know, is a Nader supporter. If McCain wins this one, blame her.

[LeftyMom]

32. Dude, you can't blame me for shit. I'm in California.

I could vote for anybody from Cookie Monster to Darth Fucking Cheney, and it wouldn't swing the election.

Not like certain people in certain penis shaped states I could name.

[Ellen Forradalom]

28. All to the left of me

And I'm definitely to the left.

My parents voted for Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, and John Anderson. They despised Reagan with a passion.

My father passed on two weeks before 9/11 and I must say I am grateful that he did not see what our nation has become. He was a First Amendment absolutist in the mold of Frank Zappa and drove around rural Wisconsin with a homemade sign in his back window that said "A Bullet Stops a Beating Heart--Ban All Guns." Helluva guy.

My brother is a Naderite leftist, a Democracy Now aficianado, a socialist, an audio engineer and a jazz DJ.

My mother isn't quite as hard core but is a true blue liberal who LIVES her religion instead of trumpeting it.

I'm the corporate apostate and annoying hardcore feminist out on the West Coast. :shrug:

edited for verb tenses

[dropkickpa]

30. All Dem but one

We're all dem except for my asshole repuke uncle. My grandmother gets all kind of worked up whenever anything politics get brought up around him. She tell people it's because he got one too many concussions on the football field in high school.

I'm one of six kids, all dem, my parents and their siblings are all dem (except for noted uncle and his tainted offspring), my parent's cousins are all dem. The older generation is slightly more conservative, but not very. Even my uber-catholic grandma supports gay marriage equality.

I'm probably the furthest left of my family, but there's not much difference between where we stand, we're all pretty left.

[unpossibles]

31. pretty mixed for my small family

we have a Libertarian (my dad) who used to be more conservative and tends to vote a variety of different ways including for some Democrats, an Independent (my brother) who doesn't really discuss politics but probably votes to the right, a Democratic judge (uncle) and his wife and son who are also Democratic, my wife and I and her sister are proud lefties, and my inlaws are Righties who claim to be "Libertarian" yet always seem to vote for the Republican. What sucks is, I can usually convince him (eventually) that the Democrats represent him better, but he is convinced they want to take away his guns, so would never vote for the Democrats. Sad, really, as otherwise he is voting against his interests on many other issues.

[RebelOne]

33. My daughter and my son and their spouses

are Democrats. My 2 sisters and their spouses are Republicans. I do not know what my brother in Florida is, since we don't talk very often.