Reply #3: Maybe a little, but for as obvious as it is that he doesn't have their interests at heart... [View All]

[Shandris]

...remember that these people also believe that all the stories of corporate excess, corporate greed, and abuse of corporate power are just 'the occasional bad apple' and that the corporate model overall is still superior. Just because they turn on one Republican, they give him the Bad Apple Syndrome, but in no way does it mean they've reconsidered their lifelong beliefs about Republicans in general.

I didn't truly experience my change of heart from conservative to liberal until I exposed myself, defense mechanisms down, to a heated debate between a liberal versus about thirty conservatives in a Yahoo Chat room, and actually gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and took the time to look up the links he was posting in his debate (one of which would eventually lead me here). It was a long process of soul-searching and questioning, and one I probably wouldn't have made it through without support from other liberals who, despite knowing my conservative beliefs and very tumultuous inner rage, also knew I had the makings of a strong, caring liberal at heart. But before then, it was ~always~ the 'Bad Apple Syndrome'. It's the only way to keep any kind of cognitive dissociation for them.