What Made You a Republican or Democrat?

B

Bruzilla

Guest
I was wondering if people can remember what it was that made them decide to be a Republican or Democrat? I'm not talking about listing pros and cons that you agree or disagree with, but rather what defining event in your life happened and as a result you said "I'm a Democrat" or "I'm a Republican."

For me it was back during the Nixon vs McGovern campaign, and I saw a commercial that featured a high steel worker sitting on a beam eating his lunch. As he's eating he looks down at all the people below, and the voice over starts saying how if McGovern gets elected some huge percentage of the people below will be receiving entitlement money of one form or another, and taxes will go up to pay for it all. I was all of twelve years old at the time, but it made a real impact on me, and after viewing that commercial I knew I wanted to be a Republican.
 

Dymphna

Loyalty, Friendship, Love
I'm a registered Democrat.

When I was 17-18 yr old and first registered to vote, I was inclined to be very liberal in my political thinking. Education issues had always been central to my life, since I'd always been a student. I wanted to save the world. When I was 19, I worked for a PAC that was focused mostly on environmental issues, but was also heavy into legislating consumer issues.

I've grown older and more conservative, but I have always found party hopping to be distasteful. The fact that more than one of the local political candidates change parties depending on which way the wind blows loses them my vote.

My beliefs have ended up being moderate, I have ideals in common with both major parties, while finding some on each side to be hypocritical. But I refuse to drop party affiliation, because that would only disenfranchise me at the primary level. My mother is an independant and seems quite apathetic about most political issues, although she DOES vote in every general election. My father hasn't been register to vote at all since I was a very small child. I believe having some type of party affiliation, even though the party doesn't perfectly align with my own thinking, gives me an extra chance to make my opinion count.
 

Larry Gude

Strung Out
I guess I was about 10...

...or so.

As I was becoming a history buff, the question of why, especially in war, was always central.

Enter the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was all about saving the Union, keeping us together as a people. He ended up using slavery to save the nation and it worked.

Now, we are ALL Americans with all the hopes and dreams and rights and priveledges that being an American entails.

Whatever romantic notions of States Rights one holds or opinions of race, class or ethnicity, whatever differences or agreements, we are all bound and protected and free by our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and our Bill of rights. That is what 'Union' means to me.

Abraham Lincoln was one of the first Republicans and that's what I wanted to be.
 

Tonio

Asperger's Poster Child
I've never been a member of a party. I guess it's because I don't like conflict for conflict's sake, or loyalty for loyalty's sake. Usually I track somewhat liberal on social issues and somewhat conservative on fiscal issues.

With taxes, for example, I agree with the conservatives that overall tax rates are too high and the government wastes too much money. But I also agree with the liberals that the very rich and corporations don't pay enough, because they've used their influence to get governments to establish loopholes in the tax code. I would either establish a flat tax on income with absolutely no loopholes or exemptions, or eliminate all income and property taxes in favor of a sales tax. I'm not an economist, so I don't know if my solutions would work.
 
I grew up under the leadership of the greatest President the United States has had in many, many years (Ronald Reagan). Thus, I am a Republican.
 

Penn

Dancing Up A Storm
Originally posted by huntr1
I grew up under the leadership of the greatest President the United States has had in many, many years (Ronald Reagan). Thus, I am a Republican.
I have to go with huntr1 on this. I can't remember any president who made me feel as proud to be an American as he did. Not many democratic contenders have given me that priviledged emotion. Republican - you bet!

C'mon Dubya, four more years!
 

tlatchaw

Not dead yet.
I used to be a die hard bleeding heart liberal. I was caught up in the guilt of being who I was since I was so wealthy and priveleged. (white male from Montgomery county). The public schools had me completely snowed about what I should think politically.

I really wanted to be a park ranger, knew alot about nature and can speak well to groups. I got my degree in Recreation Management and went to work for MNCPPC. That worked alright for about 6 months until I got passed over for promotion.

My boss pulled me aside and explained that these other applicants with special marks on their forms were considered more qualified than me because of their racial policies. Now these folks had degrees in English and Science and Math. I have no idea why they would want to spend their days playing Ranger Rick. That was when I started waking up.

Now I'm a proud Republican that challenges himself to succeed daily and doesn't take anything for granted the way that I used to.:biggrin:
 
Originally posted by migtig
I still say I am independent cause I don't vote straight party tickets.
Not voting straight ticket doesn't make you an independent, it just means that you have the ability to think for yourself. I have never voted straight republican ticket. Most likely never will. I vote based on the issues & the person, not the party affiliation. However, 99% of the time, that means I vote Republican.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Bronco Ronnie did it for me, too. I was 16 when he was elected the first time around and I wasn't really sure where I stood politically, but I had distinct ideas about how things should be done. Once Reagan became President, I liked his positions on foreign policy, terrorism, domestic issues, welfare, and just about everything else, so I registered Republican when I turned 18.

No Democratic candidate or activist group has ever given me reason to change - in fact, they've just reinforced my decision.
 

Tonio

Asperger's Poster Child
In my lifetime there hasn't been a president I truly liked and respected. I'm generally lukewarm about one when he takes office, and by his third year he usually sours on me.

With both Reagan and Clinton, I wanted to see them leave after five years or so. I thought Iran-Contra was a sad abdication of responsibility on Reagan's part, and Clinton's dissembling during Monicagate was an even worse example of irresponsibility.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Originally posted by Tonio
Clinton's dissembling during Monicagate was an even worse example of irresponsibility.
That was the least of his sins, IMO. And I mean the VERY least.
 

Doc

New Member
Originally posted by huntr1
I grew up under the leadership of the greatest President the United States has had in many, many years (Ronald Reagan). Thus, I am a Republican.

Ugh! I grew up under under his "leadership" as governor of California. Those of us who did all remember how at the time California had one of the highest tax rates in the nation, and no withholding. So every year you got socked with a giant bill all at once. Several times the legislature tried to institute withholding. Regan always vetoed it, saying "Taxes should hurt." That's a direct quote.

Of course, years later it turned out that like a typical rich fat cat, Regan was paying zero dollars for taxes as he managed to squirm through every loophole possible.

When he ran for President, pretty much everyone who had suffered under him in California figured it was a joke--surely no one would elect him after what he did to California!
 

Pete

Repete
I am still hoping H. Ross Perot will run again. I voted for him once already. I like charts and graphs:biggrin:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Originally posted by Doc
"Taxes should hurt."
That's one of the things I liked about him. Taxes SHOULD hurt - that way you're aware of how much you're actually paying. Congress tries really hard to make the tax code impossible to understand and they sneak taxes out of you. When you get a bill for your share, it forces you to pay attention.
 

Doc

New Member
Yeah, but Ronny WASN'T being hurt by them. He just weaseled out of paying while the rest of us--whose only sin was not raking in oodles of bucks like Ron--had to get hurt.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Originally posted by Doc
Yeah, but Ronny WASN'T being hurt by them. He just weaseled out of paying while the rest of us--whose only sin was not raking in oodles of bucks like Ron--had to get hurt.
How did you get hurt? It's the same money, whether they sneak it out of your paycheck or they send you a bill.

You can hardly blame Reagan for taking advantage of legal tax exemptions. Wouldn't you? Or do you not claim your mortgage interest or kids or business expenses on your tax return?
 
B

Bruzilla

Guest
I sincerely doubt that anyone at Reagan's income level ever pays zero taxes, be they state, local, or federal. Statements like that are usually exagerations. I'm sure that he took advantage of every loophole you can imagine, but I'm sure he paid probably about five to ten times what the average taxpayer was forking over.
 

Doc

New Member
Originally posted by Bruzilla
I sincerely doubt that anyone at Reagan's income level ever pays zero taxes

Would that it were so. Had you lived in California then, you would have recalled that Ronny avoided paying ANY state taxes for five years. This came out after one of his vetoes. A reporter writing a story about him came upon the information quite by accident, and it was trumpeted in the LA Times. It was the year after that, when the bill came round again, that Ronny finally signed it with very little fuss.

Turned out he was using a trick a lot of Hollywood types at the time were doing...buy a run-down farm, then don't do anything with it. Ta-da! Claim a big loss, deduct a fictitiously large amount of money, and pay no taxes. Wheeee!!!!

Originally posted by Vrai
How did you get hurt? It's the same money, whether they sneak it out of your paycheck or they send you a bill.

It's very difficult for most people to properly manage their money. My folks (I was still a dependent then) did a pretty good job, but still emergencies can come up, you dip into savings, and all of a sudden you find yourself with a huge tax bill and money is tight.

Personally, I'd rather not have to pay withholding. I'm an excellent manager of money, and I'd rather earn interest on my income rather than dole it out bit by bit to the gumment.

The problem is, not everyone is as good as managing money as I am. Let's face it: most people are idiots when it comes to money. For proof, just look at how many dolts run a balance on their credit card. I don't think people should be penalized for being stupid. (If stupidity were a crime, after all, there'd be a different President in the White House right now.) So if Joe Sixpack isn't smart enough to estimate his state taxes, and put that money away in a safe place until 15 April, I don't see why the governor should maliciously decide that Joe needs a yearly spanking on tax day. There were lots of folks--mostly poor and poorly educated--who, come tax day, couldn't fork over the dough, and paid dearly for it. As usual, the whole California mess was an instance of something that hurt poor folks and middle class folks but was absolutely adored by the Republicans.
 
B

Bruzilla

Guest
Nothings more credible than the LA Times. :biggrin: Again, I think you're the victim of some exageration. The US tax code, which most states use as a guide, allows you to lose money three years out of five, so I doubt Reagan could go five years without paying any taxes... even in California.

"There were lots of folks--mostly poor and poorly educated--who, come tax day, couldn't fork over the dough, and paid dearly for it." Since when do people who are poor pay taxes??? I highly doubt that some minimum wage worker with a poor education was expected to pony up three thousand or even three hundred dollars in taxes. I gotta throw the :bs: flag on this one. :biggrin: Unless dope dealers and car theives were required to file taxes, I don't see some poor waif getting hit with a big tax bill on tax day.
 
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