This isn't meant to be a challenge to anyone, I'm just curious how or why some of you have chosen the political beliefs you have.

 

I was raised a Democrat.  In elementary school I was one of 2 people that voted for Carter in our little classroom election.  In that vote, Carter lost to Reagan by a landslide of 2-28.  I even had a little green button I wore to school that said "Gimme Jimmy" or something like that.  At that age I didn't really know what was going on with politics, I just knew that Democrats were always the right way to go.  I still have my dad's newspapers from Nov. 1963 of the Kennedy assassination.  I still remember my dad telling me stories that my grandma broke down when Kennedy was killed and blamed it on that "bastard LBJ".  My dad's side are heavy Irish/Catholic, so the Kennedy family were like Gods when I was a kid.  And FDR might as well have been Christ himself.

 

I held onto those beliefs until I was a junior in high school.  I started realizing that I didn't believe a lot of things that Democrats stood for and they seemed to always lose everything.  My goal wasn't to be on a winning team or any team at all, I just found myself matching many of my ideas with the Republican side.  Now on the social parts, I'm pretty liberal when it comes to abortion, gay marriage and other things like that.  I'm more Libertarian on those topics in that I just think the government should back off and let people be and do what they want, etc.  I don't like all the religious overtones of the Republican party, but I dislike more the anti-religious overtones of the Democrat party.  Anyhow, I registered as a Republican, voted in my first election for Bush and made a t-shirt that said "Death before Dukakis".  I guess that was a little extreme, but I was 18 and who isn't a little extreme at that age...

 

I've said before on here that I'm anti-war, but I'm really more anti "prolonged" war.  I side with the FDR/Truman unfriendly civilian war mode.  I think wars should have a point, carpet bomb if necessary and get out as fast as possible.  I don't like this Bush version of worrying over civilian casualties.  That may sound harsh, but war isn't supposed to be pretty.

 

Ok, so I won't get into every political belief I have, but there are so many pro-Obama people on here and I just don't get it.  What beliefs do you all have that attract you to a candidate like him or just the liberal Democratic side at all?

i used to more fairly vet all the candidates until 9/11.

 

Nasdun, you elemetary school election experience is very similar to mine.

 

We had mock elections.  The difference was that each grade acted as a state.

I hated Reagan because of  the anti-environment message that was the foundation of his administration.  Laws to protect habitat and clean the air were counter to the special interest groups that put him into power.  The focus of his administration was to undermine environmental laws and regulations.  The Reagans started this long period of personalizing the struggle and demeaning the people who wanted to protect the Earth and the living creatures that depended upon it.  Horrible right wing talk radio mastered that propaganda.

 

I am delighted that, in this century, the "green" culture has taken over youth culture and the consumer products corporations.  The  Reagan legacy is finally ending.

I guess I've picked up my base political views from my family and where I grew up. I have pretty much always vote Dem but there was a period in my early teens where I thought I might be a conservative (Bush vs Dukias). My parents are both college educated who's parents were both union working class (bricklayer and teamster), so we were solidly middleclass growing up. Some military in the family but in no way is it a way of life for either side of my family. My mom is still a pretty hippy-dippy liberal when she get going and I have to remind her that the 60's were 40 years ago. My dad has been pretty successful and he should probably lean GOP for his own financial interest but i think, especially with GWB, that the current GOP are such an insult to his middle class upbringing that he needs to stay a Dem.

 

Currently I would have to say that my political belief system is anti-boomer. They have had their turn (only 16 short years since Bill Clinton was elected ) and I say it is time to move them on out. I am sick of fighting the culture wars of the 1960 over every election cycle. That is what Obama represent to me, a change from the same crap. The man has mad people skills and I feel that he can get the best out of people. He is sharp and will surround himself with knowledge people who will assist him in making the best decision under the circumstance.

 

The thing that really turns me off from the GOP is what I have taken to calling the "culture of non-achievement".

Can someone please explain to me why it is wrong to go to the top schools and universities on your own merit? And to be successful on your own not because you earned money the old fashioned way by inheriting it? Isn't that something to strive for? To be as successful as you can be given your skills or opportunity? Isn't that the American dream?

 

 

 

 

I'm a civil libertarian, am pro-city and have been squeamish about inflicting death on foreign civilians for as along as I can remember.  American jingoism has always made me cringe.  And I'm not keen on people who think the Iraq war is a "task from god".  Somehow I ended up voting mostly for dems, though I'm not much of a party cheerleader.

 

 

Can someone please explain to me why it is wrong to go to the top schools and universities on your own merit? And to be successful on your own not because you earned money the old fashioned way by inheriting it?

 

You elitist pig. 

 

Seriously though, that Obama is painted as "elitist" is indeed one of the funniest ironies of this election cycle.

Some claim that Winston Churchill once said something like - if you are not a liberal at 20 you have no heart, but if you are not a conservative at 40 you have no head.  (NOTE: I have heard several variations of this quote).

 

Given my age (30), my heart makes me a liberal I guess.  A lot of it has to do with how I was raised, where I was raised and the idealogies that are embedded in me.  I come down on the left on most every issue.  Abortion and 2nd Amend are two key issues that I struggle with and do not agree with the extremes on either side - I probably would be more in favor of an acceptable middle ground on both.

 

As long as the conservative base of this country is strung along like a puppet by the evangelicals and right wing radicals, I suppose I will have no "head".

 

To be clear, I am grateful for fiscal conservatives who leave religion and bigotry our of the political equation.  IMHO, that group is vital to a proper balance and is not nearly large enough.

 

The Bill O'Reilly's, Pat Buchanon's, Karl Rove's, Ted Haggard's, George W's, Dick Cheaney's, Ann Coulter's, Michelle Malkin's, Rush Limbaugh's, Ken Blackwell's etc, etc, etc, etc of the world help solidify my liberal base.

 

Majoring in history in undergrad also helped.  History looks favorably upon liberals (NOTE: not always the democratic party) - see Revolutionary War, Abolitionists, Women's suffrage, Civil Rights.  Coming soon (fingers crossed) to a history class near you - gay rights.  Most of our great leaders are remembered for standing up to the establishment and changing the way things are done because it is not the way things "should" be done (credit: Michelle Obama) - Founding Fathers, Lincoln, JFK, MLK Jr. - and that is being a liberal IMO. 

Its hard to say if my family had any influence on my political beliefs - I don't know much about my dad but my mom used to be a registered Democrat and lately turned into a Republican. Most of my family is pretty apathetic when it comes to politics. I guess I formed most of my beliefs from my own life experiences, reading and paying attention to the media. I actually think some professors greatly influenced my beliefs. I didn't start caring about politics until I went to college. I've always been open to other peoples ideas which is why I'm so moderate.

 

One thing I noticed when I went to college is that a lot of my peers either based their beliefs off of their parents (I think we give our parents a lot of credibility - it's the same with family and religion) or they chose to rebel against their parents beliefs. I have friends with conservative parents in the suburbs who think their parents are sheltered and uncultured. I'm starting to wonder if this "trendy" liberal progressivism movement actually has to do with some sort of backlash caused by really conservative parents.

 

Kinda like the materialistic yuppies in the 80s who were the sons and daughters of hippies.

I have never been one to take anything at face value, so I didn't inherit my beliefs from anyone.  My parents are extremely Republican, but it always puzzled me why someone would always agree with one particular party regardless of what they said.  As such, I became an Independent as I grew up.  There is pretty much nobody that I agree with entirely, so I just take the person that I disagree with the least.  Lately I've been leaning more Democratic, but if I start to see Republicans making more sense to me, then I'll end up swinging the opposite way in the future. 

 

The thing that most influences my political decisions is my faith.  I went from being agnostic to being a Christian in my late teens and I have tried to be moderate with my voting and conservative with my beliefs (from a biblical perspective).  Now conservative does not mean stupid.  Just because I disagree with a person's lifestyle does not mean that I think it is a good idea to insult and oppress them.  For example, I disagree with gay marriage, but that does not mean that I want laws to be passed against it or hate people who engage in it.  What good would that do?  It is possible to respect someone else's views without accepting those views as being correct. 

 

Two things that really bother me are immigration and abortion.  I don't understand why some Republicans are so hard up on the Bible but hate immigrants (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).  That's pretty much a complete contradiction in beliefs.  I'm also bothered by the way that Democrats talk about abortion.  They make it sound like you are an ignorant, oppressive fool if you are not for abortion.  I'm all about rights, but I put human rights (the right to live) before women's rights because so many women I know just use abortion as a method of birth control.  I know that's a touchy subject, but I think people frequently get so caught up in the idea that we should protect the rights of women that they forget there is a child here who cannot speak up for his or her own rights.  Nobody told me to believe this way.  I just use logic and test it with the most important aspect of my live, my faith. 

  What beliefs do you all have that attract you to a candidate like him or just the liberal Democratic side at all?

 

I'm gay and the GOP is the anti-gay party. They have opposition to gay marriage and domestic partnerships as a plank on their national platform, and individual Republicans have consistently opposed civil rights protections for the GLBT community, among other things (though individual Democrats have done this too, here in Dayton).

 

I know there is that Uncle Toms Log Cabing Club or something for gay Republicans, but it doesn't seem to have much effect on the party.

 

So that is your answer: the GOP is my political enemy, so I don't support them.

 

 

 

 

 

I love how liberals can get away with saying that the GOP is "anti-gay" or "the white party" without an outcry.  If someone said something as ridiculous about the Democrats like they are the un-American party or the pro-Victim party, we wouldn't hear the end of it.  Inspiring desperation into the public discourse is the MO of the Democratic party.  But they only peddle despair because they have the magic panacea: more government in your lives!

 

To say the GOP is the anti-gay party seems to be an overly simple line of attack.  The argument is quickly reduced to two camps: one is crying that every identity group deserves its own civil rights protection amendment and the other believes government ought to provide equal protection under law regardless of one's group affiliation.  If you are part of the first camp, where do the protection amendments end?  I am asexual and wish to share domestic partnership benefits with my best friend.  Do you condone my effort to live the life of my choosing (or was I born this way) or do you oppose my efforts and therefore become my political enemy?

Where did I/do I?  The hard crucible of experience.

Grant, I'll say again what I said in my earlier post:  You don't have to accept everyone, but try to respect them. 

Obviously I got my political beliefs before this, but to tie it into today's environment...

 

Listening to both conventions, the part that elicited the most repsonse from me was in Obama's acceptance speech when he said:

 

In Washington, they call this the "Ownership Society," but what it really means is that you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck, you're on your own. No health care? The market will fix it. You're on your own. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, even if you don't have boots. You are on your own.

 

No, you're not on your own per-se, but I'm sure as he11 not looking for some government program or civil organization to help me out.  I'm getting out of whatever situation I'm in on my own.  Displaying hard work will attract any help I might need along the way.  Government programs foster apethy and stifle competition in my opinion.

 

I'm pretty liberal when it comes to social issues, but highly conservative when it comes to economics.  I'm not very religious, I'm pro-choice, support gay rights, and am concerned about the environment.  But my stance on the economy makes me lean Republican.

 

I think Huckabee summarized it pretty well in his speech during the RNC when he said something to the effect of "I'm not a Republican because I grew up rich; I'm a Republican because I didn't want to be poor for the rest of my life waiting for the government to do something about it."

 

I think this stems from my father, who grew up poor with his mother raising 4 kids (his father died when he was young).  He worked his tail off putting himself through college and graduate school and made it on his own.  I think I grew up hearing "If you want something, you gotta earn it" at least once a day.

I remember "supporting" Reagan in 4th grade mock election. This made my teacher furious, but I was just echoing my mom's choice back then. She was a proud republican. I think she identified with the perception of rugged individualism, and being a devout Christian and Sunday school teacher, she embraced the religeous right.

 

My dad's much quieter. And to this day I'm still not sure what political party he favors, if any. He's a Vietnam vet and 30 year union guy. He did recently say "the Republican's had 8 years to screw up the country, now it's Obama's turn...I'm voting for Obama."

 

Anyhow, I find myself slightly more on the right side of the aisle. I'm still a registered ® but I'm pragmatic. I might vote for Josef Stalin if he had a realistic 3 year plan to revitalize Cleveland. But generally I lean libertarian favoring limited government, legalizing/decriminalizing drugs, 2nd amendment, civil unions, states rights. My pro life views are virtually identical to those of Ron Paul, and out of conscience I just couldn't vote for a pro choice candidate.

 

I work for environmental causes, including great lakes and coastal issues, wetlands restoration and animal welfare. But since college I've been solidly turned off by how radicalized and out of touch many of the mainstream enviro groups have become. Right now global warming is hijacking everything, and it is my least concern among ecological problems.

 

In college most of my professors tried to teach that violent criminals were actually victims of society. I appeared the right wing radical in many instances there because I believe well intentioned liberal policies and lack of personal moral responsibilty have helped devastate much of the inner city.

 

I have friends who fall all over the political spectrum, in fact most of my friends are pretty liberal or even socialist. I know bigotry, sexism and idiocy transcend party. I hate dumb stereotypes about people because of how they vote. I have met reknowned ultra liberal biologists in the Sierra Club who viewed infanticide as a viable tool against overpopulation. I have friends who are arch conservatives who have literally risked their lives dodging bullets trying to help disadvantaged in the inner city. There are heroes on both sides of the aisle.

 

If Obama does win the election, on the one hand I'll be proud of the accomplishment of our nation electing someone of African American descent. But of the two main candidates I have to go with McCain/Palin and that's how I'm voting. 

 

Anyhow, I hope I bored somebody. :wink:

 

 

 

...

I have friends who fall all over the political spectrum, in fact most of my friends are pretty liberal or even socialist. I know bigotry, sexism and idiocy transcend party. I hate dumb stereotypes about people because of how they vote. I have met reknowned ultra liberal biologists in the Sierra Club who viewed infanticide as a viable tool against overpopulation. ...Anyhow, I hope I bored somebody. :wink:

 

 

You can smear your ancedotal claims in this forum, but "infanticide" is not a policy of the Sierra Club.  Do you have any idea how unbelievable that comment sounds?

Well, growing up, my Father was Democrat and my mother wasn't (actually, still isn't) a citizen so she couldn't vote. Dad was active in his union and tried to emphasize his support for the party when friends and coworkers were looking but really I think he enjoyed voting for the underdog. "The incumbant already had their chance to fix things, time for someone new before the old guy starts getting too gready".

 

In college and in the Army I had a lot of Republican friends, and started leaning a little that way. I'm a registered member of that party still.

 

In recent elections though I've voted for both sides, depending on the issues that seem central to the campaign of the individual politician. For example though I agreed with many things about Kerry in '04, his campaign's central issue seemed to be that Bush was an idiot. (I do agree with this, but don't think its an important issue.) Since I didn't see a lot of idea's of his own about how to do things better, I wrote in a name on my absentee ballot.

 

In the upcoming election I disagree with a few things that Obama has said he'd like to do, but at least he's got some ideas of his own and wants to try to change things that need changed. McCain has shown me that his priorities are to change things that don't need changed, and doesn't see the same problems with our country and the direction its going that I do.

...

I have friends who fall all over the political spectrum, in fact most of my friends are pretty liberal or even socialist. I know bigotry, sexism and idiocy transcend party. I hate dumb stereotypes about people because of how they vote. I have met reknowned ultra liberal biologists in the Sierra Club who viewed infanticide as a viable tool against overpopulation. ...Anyhow, I hope I bored somebody. :wink:

 

 

You can smear your ancedotal claims in this forum, but "infanticide" is not a policy of the Sierra Club. Do you have any idea how unbelievable that comment sounds?

 

He never claimed that infanticide is a policy of the Sierra Club.  He said he has met those members who find it a viable option.  Do you even read before you post?

 

 

 

I love how liberals can get away with saying that the GOP is "anti-gay" or "the white party" without an outcry.  If someone said something as ridiculous about the Democrats like they are the un-American party or the pro-Victim party, we wouldn't hear the end of it. 

 

I hear people criticize Democrats as un-American all the time, such as the current insistence on always using Obama's middle name Hussein as part of a not-so-subtle (and shockingly immature) attempt to portray him as associated with the "scary" Muslims.

 

 

Inspiring desperation into the public discourse is the MO of the Democratic party.  But they only peddle despair because they have the magic panacea: more government in your lives!

 

But peddling fear is perfectly ok...

This was at a meeting in 1994 between students at Akron and an influential member of the Sierra Club. It was all arranged by my professor, former Congressman John Seiberling. I am sure the viewpoint of this man was not the official view of the SC, however, like I said, he is an influential member. This guest speaker managed to alienate every student in that classroom with his radical beliefs on controlling world population, as well as embarass a respectable, good hearted liberal like Professor Seiberling.

 

There is a book by Paul Erlich called "The Population Bomb." It was written at the urgency of David Brower of the Sierra Club. Here's an excerpt:

 

"A cancer is an uncontrolled multiplication of cells; the population explosion is an uncontrolled multiplication of people. Treating only the symptoms of cancer may make the victim more comfortable at first, but eventually he dies -- often horribly. A similar fate awaits a world with a population explosion if only the symptoms are treated. We must shift our efforts from treatment of the symptoms to the cutting out of the cancer. The operation will demand many apparently BRUTAL AND HEARTLESS DECISIONS. The pain may be intense. But the disease is so far advanced that only with radical surgery does the patient have a chance of survival."

 

Anyhow, we wanted the speaker to try and elaborate on his views of this controversial passage. And he did.

 

If you want to know specifics, pm me. If you don't want to believe me, then whatever.

 

p.s. I did run into this same man last year on Earth Day at the Cleveland Zoo, right there at the Sierra Club booth. He has since backed off on his more crazy ideas, at least publicly.

 

 

 

...

I have friends who fall all over the political spectrum, in fact most of my friends are pretty liberal or even socialist. I know bigotry, sexism and idiocy transcend party. I hate dumb stereotypes about people because of how they vote. I have met reknowned ultra liberal biologists in the Sierra Club who viewed infanticide as a viable tool against overpopulation. ...Anyhow, I hope I bored somebody. :wink:

 

 

You can smear your ancedotal claims in this forum, but "infanticide" is not a policy of the Sierra Club.  Do you have any idea how unbelievable that comment sounds?

Yes, I know who you mean.  And he is not an ultra liberal biologist, he is a solid state physicist. 

 

You are probably confusing his opinion on infanticide after 14 years  (bet you didn't take notes).  Infanticide is common in India.  Families keep reproducing until they get a boy.  Or several boys, because an elderly couple's survival depends upon having a boy who can run a family when they are too weak to provide for themselves.  A family will commonly give birth several times before they have a boy.  A girl child is of "no" value to them.  That is why the northern provinces of India have grown by hundreds of millions of people.  That is also the reason why some girls get killed.

 

The Sierra Club puts scant funding toward and has very few programs to deal with the population issue.  A lot of the members and the board of directors are in denial and prefer not to think about it.

Neither of my parents are political.  I grew up neutral but my best friends were Republicans because their parents were.  I went along and bought in.  As a Catholic in my teen years I became solidified as a Republican due to my anti-abortion feelings.  In college I drifted away, read Ayn Rand and soon enough became a small l- libertarian, but still voted republican for fiscal reasons and the fact that there are few capital L-libertarians on the ballot.  I stayed that way until a year or 2 after 9/11, and became disillusioned with the spending and warmongering habits of the neocons running the GOP.  I voted Libertarian in 2004, 2006, and for Ron Paul in the GOP primary.  Would have given him money too if I had much to throw around.  I'll probably vote for Bob Barr in November and these days encourage everyone who doesn't agree with me to at least vote for Ralph Nader or Cynthia McKinney. 

surfohio,  that's probably as close as you'll get to an apology.  Savor it!!  :clap:

Funny stuff.