Democrat Converts

[Donny]

Anyone know any Demo converts during the past administrations reign?

My parents, both dyed in the wool Demo's longer than I've been on this rock, switched 'bout 4 years ago.
Never thought I'd see that day come, honestly.
Now, I don't think they'll ever consider being a Demo again. At least not what the Demo Party represents at this time.

Dad says that you can always teach an old dog new tricks. The real trick is getting him to do it when you want to.

 

[Kaylee]

yeah, me. *ugh*

I was raised dyed-in-the-wool liberal.
Took getting out into the "real world" to see things didn't work quite so well outside of the ivory tower. There are times I really think a lot of what we call "public aid" does more harm than good. Nothing like looking back on having clawed your way out of a bad situation without gov't help, and saying "man... who knew I could do THAT??!" Sure a helping hand is one thing, but so much of what we're doing now just dulls the spirit. Sad even -- it ends up wasting the person, really.

Thankfully my "gun control is evil" lesson was relatively painless.

-K

 

[johnr]

Donny-well, here in the south Georgia town I live in, until Ronald Reagan's era, you just about HAD to be a Dem to win any kind of election-- I'd guess we were at least 75% democrat. During & after Reagan it utterly reversed-- everybody was a Repub!
What accounted for this? Well, the local dems were actually "conservatives" ( kind of like they were stealthed!) and when the democrat(ic) party went too far left, they jumped ship.
FWIW, I started conservative, swerved left when young, then marriage & running small businesses made me conservative again with a Libertarian streak.
I don't think I've mentioned it on this board, but on others I have long argued that a fairly large number of minorities who are traditionally counted as "locked to the dems" are in fact, rather conservative.

 

[Bunkster]

Converts from the Clinton administration, I'm not sure of. (However the changeovers just after the 94 elections from Dem to Repub were quite numerous.)

Over time though, you will find far more converts from Dem to Repub than in the other direction. Whittaker Chambers, Bill Bennett, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Michael Medved, Norman Podertz...even Ronald Reagan to name just a few.

Probably one of the most authentic and interesting switches was David Horowitz. An avowed Marxist and sixties radical, Horowitz stunned the left in 1984 with his famous coming-out piece entitled "Lefties for Reagan". Ever since, he's been at war with his former fellow travelers.

Just in the past month, Harry Stien, another hard core leftist has written his political bio: How I Accidently Joined the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: (And Found Inner Peace).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/038533396X/qid=966421889/sr=1-2/104-3173793-0256740

While there probably are some that have switched from right to left, I really can't name any.

Regards

 

[houndawg]

I was a Dem until january 92 when Klinton proclaimed he was going to let gays roam freely about my Marine Corps. I became hard corps anti Klinton when he pushed through the Crime Bill. I'm not a straight ticket voter though. We have some good Dems in Illinois. I voted for one of them for Governor in the last election. I knew George Ryan was going to be a bastard. I guess you could say I swing a little to the Liberatarian side, but I'm not stupid enough to vote for one for President.

 

[Keiller TN]

You might be surprised how many older Americans now vote Democrat since they are depending on the government for their living. One of my close relatives who use to vote Republican voted for Clinton twice. This astounds me! What a sell-out. I hope money never is more important to me than virtue. "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right." (Proverbs 16:8)

 

[Donny]

All these are all exactly the things I'm seeing in my travels day to day.

Personally, almost my entire family has done the kneck-twist looking for something that represented us. We've actually yet to find that. Or at least, a party with enough power to win. Unfortunately that left us with the Republican side of operations. Which is better, to some degree, from the Demos.

I've an uncle, who years ago, wouldn't be seen without a firearm in his hand. Now, not a one in his home. All I seem to get from him on the matter is that they're an unnecessarily evil thing in our society.
Unbelievable!
Of course, I managed to pick up a few of his old (prime) pieces after he decided to slide into the retired blues.


[This message has been edited by Donny (edited August 16, 2000).]

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

My own grandparents, who I dearly love, are yellow-dog Democrats back to the Depression-era. My grandmother served on the state Dem committee and met Kennedy. They have both voted and supported the Democrat ticket all the way in every election they ever voted in.

They met a Republican politician at church and decided to start campaigning for him... After the Lewinsky thing, they were pretty disgusted with Clinton and what the Democratic party had become. I feel pretty confident that they will be voting for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in their life.

 

[Jack 99]

Funny thing about people. They lie. I call it the "McDonalds effect." I used to work with a bunch of avowed health nuts who swore up and down they NEVER went through a fast food drive through. Funny thing though, whenever I was in the drive through I recognized their cars in front of me.

Here's an interesting exercise: go find someone who voted for Clintoon in the last election. Hardly ANYONE will admit to it outside of the Dem faithful, most of whom are in L.A. right now. Something happens in that voting booth though and people, and I think especially older people, pull that lever based on who will give them the most goodies. Right now the Dems are dangling a lot of goodies and the seasoned citizens of this country know that the prescription drug coverage and expanded medicare is much more likely to become a reality with Dems in office.

The country knew it was electing a sexual predator/shyster in Bill Clinton. We're not stupid, as a whole, we just didn't (collectively) care. People forget that Clinton's plan to nationalize health care was, at one time, wildly popular. That promise probably got Billary elected in '92. Then there was a sort of collective awakening and we realized Billary could 'f' up organizing a Girl Scout cookie sale. Quite frankly, a stronger Dem leader who had more of the public's confidence could probably have pulled it off.

Watch this election closely, kids, the "McDonalds effect" could kick in and without anyone really willing to admit voting Dem, they could still take the White House and the House of Reps.

[This message has been edited by Jack 99 (edited August 16, 2000).]

 

[scud]

Not to mention that pesky problem of vote fixing. Even if only one person voted democrat with 15 minutes of state sponsored news declairing how there was a unexpected jumpin democratic support and the election was a surprise there would be few that would doubt it. After all, only one polling company supplies all of the major networks with info on the projected results. Not to say don't vote at all, I could be wrong and it is certainly worth a try, but I have no faith that any of it has any bearing on what they intend to do. This is not a free country anymore.

 

[Jay Baker]

Jack 99, I agree with you. In fact, have experienced the "McDonald's Effect," myself.

I've discovered, over these many years, that aside from the Richard Nixon family members, I am the only person in the U.S.A., who voted for Nixon in 1968.

So when are you leaving the communistnazi State of Kalif., and moving to Idaho?? I thought you'd already be here. Elk season opens soon, you know. J.B.

 

[Coinneach]

I guess you could say I swing a little to the Liberatarian side, but I'm not stupid enough to vote for one for President.

Check yourself, Houndawg. Calling people who vote on principle "stupid" is a good way to make enemies.

 

[Jack 99]

Jay,

I'm trying. Thought I had the place sold but it fell through. Wife got a great job at BSU (making more than she made here in San Diego, in a market where a house costs 1/3 as much ). I'm was hoping end of the month but now looks like middle of Sept.

Good news, with the wife at BSU I can go to school for $5 a credit. I'm thinking about going back for a Nursing degree and specializing in Emergency Medicine. I'll definitely get in touch when I get up there.

It sux.

 

[Herodotus]

Its a big country and there may well be some converts out there. Didn't the Bradys formerly work for Ronald Reagan?
On the whole, however, the Clinton/Gore administration's problem has the abandonment of their standard by the independent and the apathy of even the faithful.

 

[Who The Government Fears]

If anyone here plays videogames a lot then you know as well as I do that if Liberman gets in any position of power then flush every form of video entertainment down the ****er.

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Evil unchecked grows, evil tolerated poisons the whole system.