What party are/were your parents?

[Bayard]

One thing I've noticed over the years is that people tend to remain Democrat or Republican depending on their parents' affiliation. My mom was a die-hard Democrat from South Carolina. I have some good Republican friends who follow the political footsteps of their folks. My little brother turned rabid Repug. Go figure.

How many actually saw the light and changed to the Democratic Party?

[pnwmom]

1. Parents, Democrats. Grandparents, Republicans.

I give Hillary for "seeing the light" and moving out of her parents' Republican party.

[Bradical79]

2. Dad is Republican Mom is Democrat

Though I don't think dad has voted majority Republican in awhile.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Mom is a Democratic

Dad raised Republican (most blacks were in the South that could vote) -

He voted Kennedy in 60 (first election voted while abroad), too dangerous in 1964 (on leave in Alabama), met my mom in 1967, canceled out her vote in 1968 - there on out he was a Democratic. The whole family (9 siblings) came into the Democratic Party between 1960 and 1972.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. My dad was a strong Roosevelt Democrat,

my mother an Eisenhower Republican. I'm positive she would not be voting Republican today if she were still alive, however. She was not a fan of Ronald Reagan.

[jwirr]

20. Both Mom and Dad voted all four times for FDR. They stayed

Democratic until they died. The generation before them was divided between the Rs - older siblings who inherited the family money and Ds - younger siblings who did not get any of the money. It is pretty much down those lines even today.

[frogmarch]

5. Post WWII Eisenhower Republicans

I know if they were living today they'd be Democrats. In fact, before Mom died she came to really like JFK. Dad had died during Eisenhower's presidency.

[JonathanRackham]

6. Blue collar union democrat.

Steel worker lifer.

[Bigmack]

14. Mine, too. Important to note that "Union Democrat" thing. nt

[Runningdawg]

7. Democrats

My dad taught me about politics. I can remember asking him one time, what the difference was between Democrats and Republicans. He told me a Democrat would say "we are all in this together" while the Republican would say "every man for himself"
He was a smart man.

[scarletwoman]

21. My dad taught me about politics also.

When I was a kid, I asked what the difference was between Democrats and Republicans. I was told "Democrats are for the working man, Republicans are for the rich man." Both my mom and my dad told me that. They were both from working class families and grew up during the Depression. My dad was a dedicated Union man his whole life - he's 89 years old and still a loyal Democrat. He's rooting for Bernie, btw.

[hifiguy]

25. Sounds like my dad.

When I asked why he was voting for Lyndon Johnson he told me "son, if you get your paycheck from another man you'd better vote for Democrats. The rich can take care of themselves." Never forgot that, and RFK was my first political hero, as I was too young for Jack. My dad was union, as well.

[Bigmack]

42. My father, the famed electrician.... and political scholar...

... carefully explained things to me.

"No such thing as a "free market".. the suits rig it. Only suckers believe in a "free market."

"Republicans haven't done anything for working people for 50 years."

"That fucking Nixon is crooked as a dog's hind leg."

"Ike is a nice man, but a working man never votes against a Democrat no matter how nice the Republican is. That nice Republican is like a nice cover on a septic tank."

[scarletwoman]

8. Parents & grandparents Democrats, as well as all the extended family on both sides. nt

[Warpy]

9. My mother was a upstate NY liberal Republican who voted Socialist

if one was running, Democratic if one wasn't. She pronounced Republican candidates universally "putrid," her word. My dad was a midwestern Democrat who liked the illusion of tax cuts so he voted Republican until 2004, when 4 years of Stupid convinced him to cast his last ballot ever for Kerry.

Me? I'm a registered Democrat because Republicans are just plain nuts and nobody else has much of a chance. I voted Socialist Workers Party in Boston when one was on the local ticket. Yes, I'm sort of a low socialist, favoring a messy mixed economic system.

[DesertFlower]

10. democrats. both parents. grandpa

was president of a democratic club most of his life. aunts and uncles all dems, but i have 2 sisters. one is a republican.

my late husband came from a conservative republican family. he was a dem but his sister is still a republican.

my parents had no influence on my politics. it was a choice i made when i was 18. back then you had to be 21 to vote. i was so upset because i couldn't vote for JFK. i had just turned 19.

grandpa did not like kennedy but he voted for him. he was very quiet all day.

[hifiguy]

11. Dad was a union man and an FDR/Truman Democrat

who absolutely hated the ground Richard Nixon walked on; Ike was the only Repub I ever remember him saying nice things about, but everybody liked Ike in the day. Mom was a moderate-to-liberal Republican. Until Reagan.

After taking a look at the Zombie King I don't think she ever voted for another Repub for any office higher than congressman. We had a sane, very moderate Repub congressman in the 1970s and got redistricted into one of the most liberal districts in the country in the early 1980s.

[xloadiex]

12. South Side Chicago

Die hard Democrats. Dad is gone, mom is 88 years old and rooting for Bernie. She's a nervous wreck right now and I'm sure shouting at her television.

[OldHippieChick]

13. Dad, a WWII vet an Eisenhower Republican

Mom an FDR Dem. Mom came from a union family. Was raised to be a free-thinker but fought w/ Dad all the time. He called me a commie pinko, I called him Archie Bunker. Mom cried. Good times!

[StandingInLeftField]

17. ^ I LOL'd so hard! nt

[StandingInLeftField]

15. Dad was a Goldwater Republican. I have no idea about my mother.

Dad gave me a little gold elephant lapel pin. I said I liked the donkey better.

Dad was not amused.

[womanofthehills]

16. Die-hard Democrats

I knew I was a democratic when I was in grade school because my dad loved to talk about politics.

[csziggy]

18. My parents were always registered Democratic

But that was mostly because for most of their lives Florida only had Democratic primaries and most local races were decided in the primaries. Unfortunately, the voted very conservatively - for George Wallace more than once.

Into the 1980s and 1990s they not only voted Republican, they donated a lot to Republican candidates.

On the other hand in 2008 my mother got so fed up with McCain selecting Palin as his VP running mate, she voted for Obama! She never liked McCain much since she thought he was really, really stupid and when he picked the Alaskan airhead Mom was totally disgusted. I'm not sure if either Mom or Dad voted in 2012 - Dad's driver's license had expired and my sister was not cooperative about taking him to get a photo ID so he could vote for Romney.

[OregonBlue]

19. Yellow dog Democrats for several generations on mom's side. Dad a Yellow Dog Dem, his family

Evangelical Southern Baptist Tea Party.

[mercuryblues]

22. My parents were

republican. When I grew up and moved out of state, I slowly became Democratic. One thing I never did was vote for a republican presidential candidate. After Reagan my parents started leaning towards Dem. I still have 2 siblings that think they are republican and 2 siblings solid Dems.

[rug]

23. Democrats. They met at the Sunnyside Democratic Club in Sunnyside, Queens, New York.

Sometime later I arrived.

[A Little Weird]

24. Dad is a rabid republican, as crazy as they come

Mom leans republican but mostly she just doesn't pay attention. Nearly all of my relatives are republicans (varying levels of crazy). Maybe one aunt is dem (she's a teacher) and I'm not sure about a few of my cousins.

Somehow both my brother and I woke up and became democrats. But having come from that kind of upbringing it's easier for me to understand how people can vote against their own interests. I'm not sure I would have changed if I hadn't moved away for college and been exposed to other viewpoints.

[Jim Beard]

26. Both Parents Democrat

One set of Grandparents Democrat, the other Republican...Of the 4 children in my family 2 sisters are Republican and the two men are Democrats.

[a la izquierda]

27. Republican and Independent.

My mom is a Republican. She is a lesbian, so this is weird.
My dad is an Independent, leans democratic.

[Agnosticsherbet]

28. Mother-Democrat, Grandmother - Democrat

Grandfather - Republucan

My father left when I was 3, so I have no idea.

[HassleCat]

29. Mine were crazed Republicans.

Mean and nasty about it, too.

[Proud Public Servant]

30. They were both Dems when I was growing up

Mom's still a solid liberal Dem (Hubert Humphrey version). Dad dies 30 years ago but was beginning to turn conservative, thanks to a steady diet of am talk radio. I have no doubt that he'd have turned into a Fox News crank if he'd lived.

[Odin2005]

31. Both my parents are Dems.

My dad's side of the family is traditionally old school New Deal Dem, but now there are a lot of teabagger Trump supporters among my cousins.

My stepdad was a half-hippie, half-redneck Green Party supporter.

[Mendocino]

32. Dad was very conservative.

Not teabagger crazy, but close. Mom just went along with him. Both my siblings are conservative. My first vote went to Jimmy Carter in 76 and has remained Democratic ever since. My son, an only child is a strong liberal.

[Still Sensible]

33. Dad was an Eisenhower Rep and Mom a JFK Dem n/t

[haele]

34. Parents Democrats. Paternal grandparents Republicans. Maternal grandparent FDR Democrat...

and weirdly enough, my maternal grandfather (first gen. American in his family) was both a John Bircher and a FDR Democrat, so the Third way Dems are not necessarily a new thing.

My brother and his wife are Democrats, also. And since they live in rural Texas west of Ft. Worth, he's commented that they are now probably the only democrats within 10 miles...

Haele

[Dont call me Shirley]

35. Parents: Nixon Republicans. Me: Sanders FDR Progressive Democrat

[williesgirl]

36. Both Democrats

[BlueJazz]

37. Australians and very progressive.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. My father was a Socialist. My mother didn't give a rip.

[femmocrat]

39. My dad was a lifelong democrat. Mom was an occasional republican.

He loved JFK. Mom was a registered republican, but never voted. She hated all politicians equally. LOL

[smirkymonkey]

40. My parents are pretty solid republicans.

I remember the day I came home from college and told them I was going to register as a Socialist. My dad pretty much freaked out and talked me in to only registering as a Democrat. They have never agreed with me and we always get into it at holidays, but my affiliation has never changed. My family runs the gamut from liberal Democrat (me) to centrist Democrat (my brother) to centrist Republican (my other brother) to pretty far right (my sister and her husband). I would say my parents are pretty much centrist republicans. Somewhat socially liberal, but fiscally conservative.

[Aristus]

41. Mother: Democratic; Father: Independent.

My mother is an old-school Kennedy liberal Democrat. She actually marched in JFK's inaugural parade. Her parents, from rural Alabama, were ultra-conservative old Dixicrats who likely changed to Republican after my mother was grown and gone. Strangely, as right-wing as my grandmother was, she supported a woman's right to choose. Her attitude was "If a Christian woman got an abortion, she must have had a good reason." Not exactly progressive, since it only absolves 'members of the tribe' (Southern Baptists), but it's something, anyway.

I voted for George Bush, Senior in my first Presidential election in 1988. I knew nothing about politics, except Republicans seemed to be more pro-military (I was in the Army Reserve at the time). My mother, who voted for Michael Dukakis, was disappointed. I finally rediscovered my inner liberal after the Repub takeover in 1994, and I've voted straight Dem ever since.

My father was also raised by conservative parents in Oklahoma. He seemed to shift with the wind, whichever way it blew. He may have been influenced by my mother's progressive stance some of the time. But I remember him supporting Ronald Reagan in 1980, and then becoming disillusioned with the right-wing freight train sometime in the late 80's. After another ephemeral drift to the center-left in the 90's, he did a hard turn back to the right after September 11, 2001.

The usual disillusionment with rabid, anti-intellectual, anti-everything conservatism set in around 2007 or so, and he started talking excitedly about Barack Obama. He died of pancreatic cancer in May, 2009, mere months after casting his last Presidential vote ever for President Obama. So at least he died while serving on the right team.

[Bayard]

43. Very Interesting

The only thing I can figure out with my blue-collar brother is that he hangs out with his in-laws too much. I've never been able to understand why someone would vote against their own self-interests. Of course, we argue politics every chance we get!

[AngryAmish]

44. Sein Fein

[bigwillq]

45. My parents are Democrats

My (late) Nonni was a longtime Democratic Registrar of Voters in the small town she lived in.
But most of my cousins and aunts and uncles are Republicans.

[phylny]

46. Parents Republican, I'm a Democrat.

My parents lived on Long Island where, back in the day, since the place was run by Republicans, it was smart to be in the same political party. I think my mom probably voted for Kennedy, and she hated Nixon.

My husband is a Republican, but he voted for Obama twice, and our daughters are three for three Democrats

[dhill926]

47. parents, proud democrats...

rest of the extended family, republicans, altho not the asshole kind...

[Retrograde]

48. Democrats, as were my grandparents

My grandfather once told me it was a sin to vote Republican. I'm not religious myself, but I still follow his advice.

[Whiskeytide]

49. Mom and dad were not very political, but...

... Eisenhower Republicans would probably best describe them. Most of my entire family - lots of lawyers and teachers - are pretty solid Dems. One neice-in-law is a prosecutor but still leans left. Holidays are a genuine pleasure with them.

Wife - a loosely committed Republican. Her family, though - pretty conservative. They're smart and rational, but pretty religious and the southern republican in them is fairly strong. Once you get past her immediate family, though, it gets a little scary. Sometimes holidays with them are ... Interesting.

[DiehardLiberal]

50. My adoptive parents were staunch Democrats and walked the talk by their generosity and big hearts.

My brother and I are educated and Dems. However, a brother and sister are born again Christian Conservatives. It's like we were raised in different homes. Nature vs nurture. Very troubling at times as my parents raised us to be tolerant and help those less fortunate.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

51. Dems of course

[hoosierlib]

52. Republicans...

And so was I until 2012...(yes, beat, piss and spit on me...but I saw the light)

[fishwax]

53. My dad is very conservative and I assume a registered republican. My mom is likely an independent

I doubt he's ever voted for a democrat in a meaningful election. She tends conservative on many issues, but has voted for democrats (Clinton in '96--but not in '92 because she really liked GHWB, Gore in 2000, maybe Kerry).

[GGJohn]

54. Both parents were hard core Democrats,

I was a rabid Republican until my second tour in Vietnam when I saw the folly of the Republican support for that quagmire.

[dflprincess]

55. Both Democrats

One of my fondest memories was my dad taking me into the voting booth to show me how we "vote for Mr. Kennedy".

I also have a fond memory of him from 1964 when, apparently the Buffalo (NY) paper printed something he didn't like about Robert Kennedy. I recall him throwing it to the floor and muttering "God damn Republican paper." and my dad did not swear often.

[Stinky The Clown]

56. FDR/JFK Democrats. Not just parents, but wall to wall extended family, too.

[Raine]

57. Mine were both moderate republicans, Raygun turned our whole family

Into Democrats.

[3catwoman3]

58. My dad was a Republican...

...all his life. He made it 90 years of age in 2011. Quiet about his politics (as well as everything else in his life) so I don't really know why - he didn't talk about much of anything except sports. He grew up in the south side of Chicago. His dad was a stockbroker who lost everything in the crash of '29, when my dad would have been 8.

My mom, one year younger than my dad, was a Republican for a long time. She grew up in a small town in Minnesota, where her dad was one of the town dentists. Sometimes patients would pay my grandfather in chickens or bags of flour. I'm told my grandmother cried when FDR was elected, and not tears of joy.

I remember my folks taking me to the airport in Rochester, NY, when I was 8, to see Richard Nixon. My mom was fascinated and horrified by Watergate. I know she voted for President Obama both times, and also voted for Bill Clinton. She will be 94 in April, and will vote the Democratic ticket.

She says she and my dad never told each other who they voted for.

[KamaAina]

59. Mom took me on her shoulders to a McGovern rally in '72.

No idea about Dad, who left the building several years earlier.

Sadly, Mom has been trending right since then, to the point where she married a repuke.

[Pakhet]

60. my entire family are rabid republican fundamentalists except me and

my son. I have absolutely no idea how that happened. (well, I know why my son turned out the way he is , I have no idea how I did)

[DFW]

61. Democrats from WAY back, grandfather was a friend of FDR

Grandmother was an early supporter of HHH's bid to go to the US Senate from being mayor of Minneapolis.
Both parents (DUH!! lol) Democrats.

I still have the photo of FDR made out to my grandfather in FDR's hand "to his friend...." and a similar one from RFK to my dad from when he was in the Senate.

[LeftishBrit]

62. Both pretty consistent Labour voters...

though Mum voted Green against Blair after Iraq (Dad did not live to see Blair).

[trueblue2007]

63. my parents were democrats, my dads mom dem, his sister dem. i'm dem

my sister, her hubby all her 4 kids are all gop

my hubby dem, his mom and his sister and her 2 kids, all DEMS

[B Calm]

64. Democrats, dad preached to us three kids about the evil republicans

and how they hate working people.

[Lodestar]

65. When I was young they never discussed politics around me, so not sure.

I vaguely remember my mother crying when Kennedy was killed....but not sure
if that means she voted for him. I was really too young....

I think they were both pretty traditional the first half of their lives and then the
60's came along and they changed...became much more liberal minded and their
liberal children inflluenced their thinking too. So maybe that translates to Republican
the first half of their lives and Democratic the second half But they weren't terribly
passionate about politics in general.

[mnhtnbb]

66. My parents were rabid Republicans

My brother is a die hard Republican. I was a Dem for years and years, but re-registered as unaffiliated here in NC a few years ago.
I really think I'm more of a Democratic Socialist than a Dem--given the leanings of the national Dem party these days.