The Politics of Your Parents (and Siblings)

[Sparkly]

It'd be interesting to hear about DUers' political upbringings, if you will, and how it affected you and your siblings.

On the one hand, rightwingers (many of whom must be too young to remember) INSIST that we are the same people who supposedly "spit on troops returning from Vietnam," etc. Despite the fact that there was no actual "spitting," many of the anti-war, "peace and love" flower children of the 60s turned conservative later. Others had children who turned conservative in a rebellion of backlash.

On the other hand, some here have rightwing parents and became liberal themselves. And siblings can be of one mind, or all over the lot.

So what's your story? (Include geographical area, rough time frame, and anything else like religion, other influences, etc.)

I'll start: TOTALLY liberal parents, always. They'd be considered wayyyy radical by today's standards. Pretty big age difference between them, but both went through the Depression; both "Greatest Generation," Dad served in WWII. Both from southern, rural roots; met at Yale School of Music; Dad became prof at a private New England college; Mom fought city hall as a historic preservationist, worked on behalf of minorities and arts in education, League of Women Voters, etc. Subscribers to New Yorker, NYTimes, local paper, Christian Science Monitor. Both very intellectual, but always reminded us where we came from ("good peasant stock," my Dad would say). They were both raised Protestant and took us to a Congregational Church (where Dad was organist and choir director).

We were raised right on campus during the 1960s and 70s. (Our babysitters were prototypical "hippies" and our dance teachers came from Greenwich Village and taught us "sun worships" to the soundtrack of "Hair.")

Sister #1 was something of a "hippie," VERY smart (Merit Scholar, National Honor Society, etc., and Prom Queen, too) who got a master's in "Humanistic Psychology" (while living in the woods at times, literally; with a penchant for taking off to hitch-hike or motorcycle around the country mid-semester, making up incompletes later). She introduced the rest of us to transcendental meditation (which my parents practiced the rest of their lives; my 16th birthday present was a mantra and TM training), "earth bread" and tofu, and introduced me to feminism. Then in the 80s, she suddenly announced her decision to go to law school! Planning to do some sort of legal aid work, we asked? "No, I'm going where the money is," she declared! She ended up in CA, became a tax lawyer, then real estate investor, then freelance writer. Basically atheist but studied eastern religions. Voted Republican ("better for business") a long time, then Nader in 2000, Kerry, finally, in 2004...

Sister #2 was another Merit Scholar, National Honor Society etc. Like #1, she chose a college far from home and majored in psychology, got married, had 3 kids, and she and her husband ended up at a VERY fundamendalist, maybe even pentacostal church. Her husband LOVES Rush Limbaugh. She voted Republican up until 2004, when she voted for Kerry. She says she and her husband can't even discuss politics now.

Sister #3 is me -- always liberal, still am, never voted Republican in my life. Unitarian Universalist if anything, and I've worked in the arts all my life.

Sister #4 went to college in CA and majored in Chemistry. She's non-religious and embraces "the mystery." She's voted Democratic all her life, too.

We had a reunion this summer and it may have been the first time since we've all been able to vote that we all voted the same way.

What's your story?

[Monkeyman]

1. One wrong I got spit on

Airport walking in class A's young girl called me a baby burner and spit on me. Next day joined the VVAW to show people we were human

[Sparkly]

2. Really??

I do apologize. I thought that was a myth!! :hug:

Would you write your political family story?

[Monkeyman]

9. Ok

Born Chicago to a family of Democrats
Dad was a Precinct Captain for old man Daley
Mom was union worker
Grandfather was a Republican
Grandmother was just a plain housewife with no political party

Me I went to Catholic Schools played football . Got drafted in 68 was Nam Tet

Wounded layed up in Walter Reed until 71 Was with Kerry in Washington

Went to Penn State pre law But it happened Nam kicked my butt nightmares day sweats
Had to drop out go to VA and fight PTSD and old wounds
Now I fight for veterans and returning troops against the Replugs
Been a Democrat and Republican ya dum move there
Now I am working to get Duckworth and John Laesch in Il to Congress

Not much of a history other stories don't talk about

[Sparkly]

13. Wow -- that is quite a history.

Thank you for your service, and also for your work on behalf of other veterans and Democrats.

When were you a Republican, and why?

Do you have siblings, and are they Democrats?

[Monkeyman]

16. About six months in 77 woke up said what the hell

[Sparkly]

18. lol

Was it something about Carter? :)

[Monkeyman]

20. Gas Lines got over it

[Tikki]

46. My mother, a single mother, though well taken care...

of through the legal system ie, alimony, child support, medical care and real estate...saw that most single mothers in the 1950's
were struggling or poor.
Our state's US Senator addressed those concerns...he was a Democrat.
Though my father met his legal obligations...we never saw him, again, after their divorce...
One of my young memories (age 8) of my father was watching him humiliate my mother and make her cry because she
voted for Adlai Stevenson,

[Eric J in MN]

6. Were you in a military uniform at the time? NT

NT

[Monkeyman]

10. Class A's dress uniform saving money on a flight

[Eric J in MN]

38. Did the girl talk to you for a while before spitting? NT

NT

[AspenRose]

3. DEMOCRATS from the Civil Rights Era

Parents: Raised in Jim Crow East Texas.
Me: Grew up in South Central Texas (San Antonio).

As I've said here once before, one of my earliest memories is of attending church with my grandmother and seeing MLK, RFK and JFK on the fans from the funeral home (there was no air conditioning in the church).

Couldn't help but be a Democrat. :D

[Sparkly]

5. Do you have siblings?

If so, are they Democrats too?

[AspenRose]

12. Yep, my baby brother (12 years younger) is a Democrat as well

We bash * on the phone all the time....NSA probably gets an earful. :D

[LWolf]

4. My mom: an independent liberal

who became a Democrat during Watergate. She loved JFK, and supported many Democrats, but it took Nixon to get her to sign on to a party. She's a contradiction in many ways. Truly a "bleeding heart" liberal, yet a Clinton lover. She doesn't always get political nuances, to say the least.

My dad: I have no idea. I hardly knew him, and was only in his presence a few times. He didn't talk politics. If I were to guess, I'd say Republican. He was a dyed-in-the-wool redneck; he wore that label proudly. He was a racist, barely literate, and loved hunting, fishing, drinking, fighting, and dancing. He was extremely sexist.

Me? Independent most of my life. Married to one reagan-loving republican, one libertarian. Neither of them was nearly as "left" as I am, which doesn't really have anything to do with why anyone "left." I am a leftist-libertarian on the political compass. I've lived my entire adulthood in hardcore republican counties, surrounded by right-wing people. My voting career has been spent on Democrats and independent or 3rd party candidates. I care about issues. They come before party. I dislike the Machiavelian maneuvering, posturing, rhetoric, propaganda, "spin," tactics, etc. used to achieve party goals. I like straightforward truth in action and words. Honesty to point of being blunt. I've been a Democrat for a few years, and honestly doubt the ability of the party to hold my interest and commitment with the current course.

[Sparkly]

7. Can I ask

what general era and location you grew up in? Just curious. :hi:

[LWolf]

11. Sure!

Born in the midwest in 1960. Raised in the San Fernando Valley. Spent 30 adult years in the Antelope Valley northeast of L.A., and now live in Oregon on the east side of the Cascades.

:hi:

[nickshepDEM]

8. Hmmm...

Dad - Former Iron Worker's Union Member. Still works in construction. Votes a straight (D) ticket every election, but isnt very aware of the issues.

Mom - Pretty much votes for whoever my dad votes for, therefore, straight (D).

Me - Voted for Ehrlich in 2002 with dem's the rest of the way down the ballot. Have voted a straight (D) ticket since. Will probably vote for 2-3 Republicans in some local races comming up this year, specifically States Attorney in Baltimore County and possibly one Republican for MD House of Delegates. The rest straight dem - O'Malley, Cardin/Mfume, Ruppersberger, Gansler, Owens, etc...

Brother and Sister - Too young to vote.

[Sparkly]

14. Hope we'll see you at a MD rally or fundraiser someday

Were you raised in MD? :hi:

[nickshepDEM]

22. Yep, born and raised in Dundalk.

Southeast Baltimore County just outside of Baltimore City.

:)

Hope to see you and your hubby around sometime too!

I should clarify, I voted for Ehrlich in 2002 before I was an educated voter. I was young and he sold me on the slots issue. KKT was less than stellar, so I really do not regret the vote.

[hippiechick]

15. Mom was from a long line of Farmer-Dems ...

... German/Austrian immigrant stock who worked the land and had strong faith and family, and believed in taking care of each other and the earth that supports us.

I never really discussed politics with my dad, always just assumed he was an R because he was in the Navy when he was younger, was - and came from a line of -rather closed-minded folks re: social issues (race, religion). However, he WAS the first Fire Chief in the state of WI to hire a female firefighter - in the early 80's. He died in '94 but did admit in '93 that he voted for Clinton/Gore in '92. So go figure.

:shrug:

[Sparkly]

21. Good for your Dad!

Where did you grow up and when? Any siblings?

My parents' parents were mostly farmers, too. (Mom's side all German, Dad's Mom was Belgian and his Dad is something of a mystery, but probably from ancestry that was here much earlier, English.)

[hippiechick]

36. Northeast Wisconsin ...

I'm the youngest of 7 .. parents married in 1949 <?>, I was born in '66.

Most of the sibs are politically ambivalent, but end up voting Repub.

Even my older sister who's nickname WAS "Hippie", though she votes Dem, makes alot of racist and xenophobic statements - I don't think she realizes it, though ... I think alot of that has to do with just not ever getting out of the small town we grew up in, while I moved to Indy which - while not LA or NY - is still a bit more 'cosmopolitan' than little ole' Green Bay.

:shrug:

[MrModerate]

17. I'm an Air Force brat . . .

And my father had an intense contempt for anything political. He never met a civilian leader he didn't think was a total ass. Ultimately that made him largely apolitical, although later in his life (post retirement) he won minor, local elective office on the 'Lican ticket (because they were the only game in town). Mother was a silent partner in the marriage, doing her part to be the mom part of the post WWII generation. Both of them were areligious.

Sister #1 hated life at home, got married at 17 to a fuckwit, divorced him, married a jackass and was hauled off to pound pemmican in the Alaska backwoods for 15 years. Escaped from hubby #2 and settled in Colorado in early 70s, where the growing 'Lican influence drove her crazy. Democrat ever since them, nearly matches me in contempt for Schimpanski and his band of toads. Not very religious, but has trended that way for the last few years because she got custody of her loutish son's illegitimate daughter and has found the structure of the local church (some minor christian flavor) very helpful to a grandmother raising a teenager.

Sister #2 went to college, got knocked up, did the goodwife thing (1960s) until her oil-industry husband fell out of the sky following a parachute meet. Dabbled in drugs and drink for awhile until she met her second husband, a presbetyrian minister ALSO dabbling in drugs and drink. Quietly liberal, but with a light touch because her husband's congregations have always tried to reach out to a very broad audience. Can't tell if she even believes in god, but she and her husband have been a really good team for over 20 years.

Brother #1 always head-butted with father (pigheadedness runs in the family) became very intense. Vigorously supported Goldwater at age 14. Voted 'Lican ever since, but inherited father's cynicism and basically believes EVERYONE is a fuckwit. Areligious

Me -- As the baby of the family and with a big gap in years between me and my nearest sibling, I've always been off the family curve. Hated my father, which was reciprocated. Very happy when he "abandoned" my mother for a snow bunny shortly following his retirement. Didn't speak to him for 20 years. Myself, dabbled in drugs and theatre for about 15 years and then got a day job with a somewhat rightwing engineering firm for which I still work. Some cognitive dissonance in that, but the firm is thoroughly honorable and has allowed me to travel all over the world. It works for me. I used to "vote the candidate" and have always researched issues prior to voting. Haven't missed an election since I was first able to vote, even when I've been overseas. Now I'm straight Dem voter, "liberal" rather than moderate (at least according to Zogby's classification) and unable to vote for even a qualified, honorable Republican (if I could find one), because I can't risk being a Bush enabler. FReepers would say I'm suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome. I won't be fully happy until the frakkin' goniff is standing in the dock at the Hague. Atheist.

Whew, that felt good -- even if no one reads this post.

[Sparkly]

24. Thanks -- very interesting!!

The only thing I didn't understand is "pound pemmican in the Alaska backwoods" --? :dunce:

Seems like each of these stories is an interesting chapter for a book, especially those of our generation (babyboomers).

Do you ever talk politics with your sisters and brother? How do you think they vote (or do they)?

Thanks again for sharing your story. :hi:

[MrModerate]

32. Sister's husband attempted to run a business as a tour guide . . .

In Alaska, and one of the things they did was prepare "Native American" meals for their clients, hence the pemmican.

Sister #1 and I exchange snarky anti-'Lican cartoons and humoroids via email regularly. She votes, and she votes Democratic. Hasn't been especially satisfying for her in Colorado up 'til now, but the tide is turning. Salazar (even if sometimes he veers Lieberman's direction) was a breath of fresh air, and he may have some delayed coat tails in November.

Sister #2's husband and I have always had very lively conversations (mostly history and politics, because I just can't talk religion -- nothing to talk about). He's very liberal but professes to regressive opinions. Basically he's a smartass (as am I), so we get along very well. Sister is circumspect. Raises one eybrow a lot.

Brother is inaccessible. By report, he thinks Bush is the type of resolute leader we need in parlous times like these. Apparently, though, he's a little uncomfortable about Goldwater's legacy in Georgie's hands. Raked Kerry over the coals for his "weasly" stand on the Yucca Mountain repository.

Thanks for the opportunity to TELL these stories. It's actually clarified my take on my siblings. Who woulda thunk it?

On edit -- just checked your profile, noting you're in Maryland (I'd gathered that from an earlier post), as I am (transferred here from Romania last year), and that you have an impressive post count over just 2 years. And an activist besides. Very interesting people on DU.

[Stargazer99]

19. Basically Democrat

Aunt and Uncle raised me in a union Democratic home during the 50s. I can sure see how labor is presently screwed over royally by this administration. Auntie told me vote Democratic because the Republicans get us in wars (does Bush and Iraq sound familiar?)and cause depressions. The only thing I am different on is illegal immigration...I feel the borders ought to be shut tight. Mexico will not attend to its problems if America keeps taking the problem off Mexico's hands.

[Sparkly]

26. Your aunt and uncle must have lived through the Depression

if they raised you in the 50s... Their rationale for voting Democratic is interesting, and you're right -- still holds true!

Do you have siblings too?

[FILAM23]

23. Politics were

not often discussed when I was growing up. I always
remember my Mom saying on election day that her and Dad
cancelled each other out. But in reality they never voted party
always voted the man. Both sisters are Dem and very liberal. Oldest
brother is very Christian right, younger brother apolitical but
leans conservative..Myself the middle child of 5 am a registered
independent and am liberal on some issues and conservative on others
and I tend to vote against one candidate not for the other.

And on the myth is "There was no actual spitting"..I was spit on and saw
it happen to other servicemen also.

[Sparkly]

27. I stand corrected twice on "spitting."...

I honestly thought that was a myth. My apologies.

Where were you raised, and what influences do you think led your oldest brother to become part of the Christian right?

As for voting "against" not "for" -- I think that's the by-product of negative campaigning, at least in part... plus the nature of politics itself, and the nature of "politicians" perhaps.

[FloridaPat]

25. My parents were Democrats. Relatives republicans because in

NE Penna at the time the party you were with got jobs for you. So every time the "other" party got elected, by relatives would debate who was going to get hired and who was going to get fired. My brother was a republican, bu has since changed his mind.

I have always been the fruitcake in the family. I have to blame JFK for that. Got interested in how things worked and how they should work when he was president. Too young for the demonstrations against racism, did attend a lot of peace demonstrations through the 60's and early 70's. Been rather radical since then. Women's rights a very big issue. Justice another big issue. Always been an independent. Was one of the members of PATCO in 1981 and have hated repubs sinc then. Each year my opinion of the US gov't has gone down. Lately it's stayed the same. I might have hit rock bottom believing the * group were involved in 9-11, they lied us to invade a defensless country, and they aren't going to stop anytime soon.

[Sparkly]

29. Hey fruitcake....

I was that in my family, in different ways. ("Black sheep" was the term I used!)

Wasn't PA industrial at the time, so I thought Democrats were the ones who'd secure jobs and support unions, etc. How did other family members see Republicans helping them with employment, do you remember?

Also, what do you think caused your brother to change his mind?

Hope I don't sound nosey -- these stories are fascinating to me. :hi:

[FloridaPat]

48. Politics in NE Penna were just two sides of a coin. Not the

Democrats and repubs we know today. It was local groups with those names. I don't think it really had anything to do with national elections. People went with the party that helped them. Back thenm, that's what local politics did. I think it's probably changed alot since there are a lot of people that move around.

As for my brother - here's a neat story.

The Clintons came up to Central NY to campaign for Mrs. Clinton's senate seat. My brother paid $1000 to go to a party to meet them and get their pictures taken with them. Both he and his repub wife liked both Clintons. When * was wandering around the country in 2000, he had the same deal. My brother thought it would be neat to meet two presidents, if * won. However, to actually meet * and get photos, you had to be in an elite group that gave $10,000. My brother wasn't that interested.

[Stinky The Clown]

28. Aw c'mon .... you know my story .... but for the record .....

My Dad was a WWII vet. Mom and he were depression-era kids. 1st generation Italian Catholics. Both families were Democrats, too. I recall my Father's mother always had two pictures in her kitchen. One of the Sacred heart and one of FDR. In 1960 she added a third - of JFK.

Dad was probably more conservative than Mom. Both were working class Democrats, so there wasn't as much hard ideology as there was just a notion of doing the right thing and that dems did it more than Republicans. Dad was always a union guy and was, for years and years, a shop steward. I recall learning the word 'scab' from him in a strike line he walked. That hadda be in the early 1950s. I thought I was the shits, a little kid saying that word and smiling up his Dad.

I went to public grade school and Catholic high school. Toward my senior year I started thinking political and got into some John Birch stuff. Mostly it was rebellion against my parents, but on some level it appealed to me. My early college years were more Animal House than National Merit. I just decided to chuck it and join the Navy. I was lucky in never going to Viet Nam. In that time, I had a fight with my brother that we both still talk about. He was the hard lefty to my hard rightie. And that's what we traded to the sheer terror of our Mother. Lefts and rights. And grapples and kicks.

We didn't hardly speak for years after that.

My first wife was a Republican of Republican parents. I registered as a Republican back then (early 70s), but voted both ways. Carter, Reagan twice, Clinton twice and reregistered as a Dem in Clinton's second term.

While some of my generation (Boomers) grew more conservative with age, I've gone the other way. I dare say my most hardcore Republican time was in the Nixon era. I was in North Carolina then and worked for both Nixon and Jesse Helms(!). By the time Reagan was up, I was more into my career than politics and voted him both times 'just because'. I was pretty much just phoning in my votes.

Poppy is what threw me. I recall so clearly his pandering religious nutter crap in the convention that year. When I heard him throw gays over the side, that was it. Clinton was my guy. This coincided with the death throes of my first marriage. I don't regret either!

I guess, in my case, the fruit didn't fall far from the tree. I may have strayed, but now I'm back to where the rest of my family is. My brother and I are again very close - closer than we've ever been, actually. My sons are lefties and I'm damned proud of both of them for that ... and more. My wife is a lefty and her daughter (the apple of my eye) is a lefty, too. Our we-hope-to-soon-be daughter in law is a lefty.

I've never felt more involved and more energized than I do right now.

[Monkeyman]

31. In the words of a Veteran hooya brother

[MrModerate]

33. Are you guys sitting in the same room? n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

34. No. We have separate offices in our home.

We both work from home and in very different fields. She has her space and I have mine. Most of the time we don't even follow what the other has posted here. But she asked me to weigh in on this one.

[Eurobabe]

52. Oh good, now I can go after you H2S

My parents have always been Democrats, but consider themselves Independents. I grew up in the 60s, and for some reason the "hippies" and stuff must have scared me, because by the time I reached voting age of 18, I registered as a Repube. (gasp!!) I guess I was conservative and somewhat not very politically educated at that age. I switched parties in 1992 and didn't look back. Ironically I went back to college in 1991 and became more liberal as my education progressed. I am a registered Dem in OH.

My grandparents were staunch Republicans, esp. my grandfather from Northern Ohio. (My grandmother basically voted for whoever my grandfather told her to vote for...)

I have two lovely daughters (20s) who are die-hard Dems, they abhore the Republican party, and cannot understand why anyone would join such a group of bigoted-thugs.

[Bluzmann57]

30. Ok, here we go.

Our parents were, and are still, fairly Liberal, to the point of working actively and openly for George McGovern for President in 1972, which is where I got my first big taste of Liberalism, although RFK in 1968 was an influence as well.
My dad was a factory worker who never finished high school, but later got a GED. He worked his rear end off because he believed in feeding and clothing his family before anything else. He was, and is, a very gentle church going man who feels a need to help others. He served in Korea because that was what young men did back then. He is the greatest man I have ever met.
My mom was a stay at home mom until 1968 when the Union dad belonged to went on strike and we needed the money, so she went back to work. She would not, and will not to this day, accept slang terms for minorities. She loves her children unconditionally, but isn't afraid to tell us when we are going astray, even after all these years. We grew up in a small white bread Iowa town, and many years ago mom started a garden plot for some inner city people who were dirt poor and whom she thought would appreciate raising food with their own blood, sweat, and tears. They did, but a lot of town folk didn't. Once, when I was out riding my bike, some POS hollered at me to "send them n***** back home". I went home and asked my mom about this and she was visibly angry, but did not suggest lashing out in anger. Instead, she advised me to ignore them and take comfort in the knowledge that I am better than they are because we don't hate. I have tried to live at least part of that advice my entire life, although I rarely ignore the assholes anymore. There is no better mom than mine. She would willingly throw herself in front of a bus to save her children and grandchildren.
My sister has a Master's in Library Science and is not as active in politics as her big brother, but is deadset against censorship of any kind and hates bush with a white hot passion which, quite frankly, I never knew she had. Once, several years ago, she registered republican specifically to try and oust a real onerous repub representative. It worked.
This post is one of the longest ever in my time here at DU and I hope I didn't bore anyone with all this babbling. But we are Liberals from birth and will be until we die. My Brother in Law is as well. We are basically just working class people who know values when we see 'em, and know damn well that the clowns in office have none. Thank you for putting up with this long winded stuff. DU rocks!

[Stinky The Clown]

35. Hey Bluz ........

I know your Mom and Dad *real* well. They sound exactly like mine. The stories you shared could well have been about my parents .... except for the locale and the specifics.

You have great parents. :hi:

[mnhtnbb]

37. Parents both staunch Republicans all their lives;

my one sibling, a brother is also Republican.

My parents were born 1908 and 1910. My mom's father was an oil wildcatter
who followed the oil fields from Pennyslvania to Oklahoma and ended up on a tiny orange ranch in the San Joaquin Valley, CA. She graduated UC Berkeley in 1929 and was glad to have a job teaching through the Great Depression.

My father was born to a banking family in Los Angeles (1910). BS from University of Illinois, MS from Stanford 1931. His first wife died from TB. Both his parents and her parents were Christian Scientists, and refused to let my Dad take his first wife to a doctor. My father had a deferment for his chemical work during WW II. My mom spoke two lanquages (French/Spanish) and had a security classification during the war. She worked for an import/export firm. He was an industrial chemist, worked his whole life for Shell Chemical. It was out of the lab he supervised that the chemical process (which was sold to DuPont) known as 'permanent press' was developed. My parents met in San Francisco in 1947, married, Dad transferred to New York office. My brother was born '49 and I was born '51.
My dad retired in 1965 and we all moved to California.

The day that JFK was shot I was in 7th grade. Came home and told my mother and her mother (who was visiting). They hadn't heard. My mother's response, "It's about time." That unempathic response haunts me to this day.

I was in high school, in La Jolla, CA from 65-69. One night at the dinner table, I was arguing why we should get out of VietNam. My mom got very upset with me and threw the milk she was drinking in my face. I responded
by throwing the apple juice I was drinking in hers. When Ronald Reagan was elected President, my mom had a signed picture from him and Nancy which she hung in their kitchen. It used to disturb me no end to have to look at that when I'd visit.

Although my parents took us to Presbyterian Churches when we lived in the east, they were never religious (my mother's family was also Christian Scientist). I got involved with a youth group at the Presbyterian Church
in La Jolla while in high school. It seemed to me that Christianity was about love, forgiveness, sharing your blessings with others, working for social justice. It was not about judging other people, acquiring wealth,
fighting wars to have your way, or hating people who were diffent.
Although I attended church services regularly as an adult, I haven't stepped foot inside a church (except for a concert) since we moved from Nebraska to Chapel Hill, NC in 2000. After living 12 years in NE and MO
I've had it with organized religion and the hypocrites found in most U.S. churches.

My brother is an MD/PHD. A real scientist. I tried to get him to vote for Kerry in 2004 by appealing to him as a scientist. No go. He is his mother's son. Money is always uppermost in his mind and the fear that he might have to share some of his with others who haven't worked as hard as he has--or been as lucky. I don't think either my mother or my brother
ever thought about anyone they saw who was down on their luck that, "there but for the grace of God go I." Ironically, my mother's name was Grace.

When I moved my father to a nursing home in NC after my mom died in 2000,
he was still asking me every day, had I sent a donation to George Bush's campaign? I had to tell him every day, "No, and I won't!"

[Redneck Socialist]

39. My family's all over the political map

My father was a life long republican. Until bush, that is. He can't stand shrubbie and he does a mean impression of the shrub's "heh, heh, heh" laugh. Anyway, my dad did a year in college, figured out it wasn't for him and dropped out. WWII rolled around and he served as a Coastie. After the war he worked a succession of factory jobs, despite this he was (and remains) anti-union. I've never figured out why. I think he identified with republicans initially because of Eisenhower. Later on he bought the whole repuke line about small government, strong defense, and oh by the way them durn liebruls are gonna grab all yer guns don'cha know. I think he's continued to vote republican out of habit more than anything else. I've never seen him be politically active really, though he did receive a personal phone call from Reagan. I have no idea why, I'm going to have to ask him about that.

My mom has alway been more independent politically speaking though I think she often voted republican as well. She to hates bush with a passion. He drives her into a frothing rage.

My sister, well she went to a private christian high school, graduated in 1968 and went to Bob Jones University, yes that Bob Jones. <hangs head in shame> despite that, that she went on to join the Peace Corps and did two years in Morocco. Go figure. She later married a hard core fundie, promise keeper, the whole nine yards. Nice guy, but pretty nutty when it comes to religion. Not surprisingly they both think Gee Dub is the bee's knees. As a result we don't much talk politics because everyone's positions are pretty well established. I tend to avoid the topic in the interest of family harmony, but to give my mom credit she doesn't hold back on the bush bashing when my sister is around. To my sister and brother in laws credit they hold their tongues and don't let it turn into a big family issue.

Me, well I cast my first vote for Ronald Reagan <hangs head in shame again> 'cause well, them damn dems were gonna take my guns away. (Don't ever let anyone tell you that gun control doesn't cost the Democratic party votes. The pukes have all too successfully pushed the message that Democrats are going to take people's guns away and too many people believe it, myself included at one time.)

My first political leanings were largely Libertarian. I took the whole war on drugs pretty personally for a while and the Democrats seemed just as likely to lock me up for enjoying a joint every now and again as the pukes. I went off to college and developed a passion for hiking, I'd grown up hunting and fishing, but I fell in love with the mountains. That in turn spurred an interest in environmental issues and after college I worked as a fund raiser and campaign organizer for a national environmental political action committee. I pretty quickly realized that the pukes weren't just bad on environmental issues in many cases they were actively anti-environment. James Watt anyone? Well that work and the political education I received in doing it pretty much made me a Democrat. I even went on to work for the Democratic Party in my state for one election cycle doing campaign organizing.

Now I slave away in the corporate world, post on DU and remain active on local environmental issues and volunteer what time I can to Democrats come election time.

Damn, that's the longest post I've made in a while. Good topic. Thanks.

[Tyo]

40. My family has been Republican since they came here two generations ago

They dislike pretty much everything the current Repubs stand for, but they worked hard for their money and they are scared to death that the Democrats will take it away from them. The fact that they did as well or better during the Clinton years doesn't seem to move them. They will talk approvingly about gay marriage in one breath and about the need to re-elect our asshole Repub senator in the next. I don't understand them at all.

[NMDemDist2]

45. welcome to DU Tyo!

:hi:

[Tyo]

47. Thanks! Can't believe it took me so long to find this place. n/t

[Ghost in the Machine]

41. Born in Miami Fla, into a Democratic, Union Family...

Grandfather was a Charter Member of Local 725, Pipefitters, Steam Fitters, Air Conditiong & Refrigeration. Grandmother was a home maker.

My dad just got his 50 year pin from Local 725, been retired about 4 or 5 years now. During his time, he has served as President of the Local and also served on the Executive Board of the Local. (I remember telephoned death threats and people trying to break into our house back in the late 60's, early 70's because of this) Mom is a home maker.

Sisters (one 3 years older, one 9 years younger) are both disinterested in politics, but I'm trying to change that!

Me.. I guess I'm a Yellow Dawg Democrat. I'd cut my hands off before I'd EVER lift a pencil or push a button to vote for a repig...

[laylah]

42. My paternal Grandfather,

a coal miner, organized for the Teamsters in SW Missouri in the mid-'20's. My dad, in 1925, at age 9, was the look-out during meetings. He would lay on the barn roof with a shotgun and watch for disrupters. His mother was rabid when it came to politics. I have an audio tape of her recorded in the early '80's by some young students from Cotty (?) College in Nevada, Mo. She is ranting and fuming about Orin Hatch and what a tool he was even then, enlightening the girls (and in turn, me) to the fact Hatch was, at one time, a card carrying member of the ACLU. Dems all the way!

My maternal Grandfather died when my mom was but 13 (1932); however, the fact that the grandparents owned the telephone company in our little town, back when the companies were autonomous, and both were children of English "gentry", 5th generation, tells me they may very well have been conservatives but I really don't know for sure. Gram was a librarian until they retired her at the age of 88. My mom, an only child who never worked outside of the home (with 6 kids, she busted her butt INside the home, though), voted for Goldwater and :blush: Wallace, but also for Kennedy, Clinton x2, and Gore. Jimmy Carter was her favorite to the day she passed in Feb. 2001.

Sib 1: Sister, raised Democrat has been easily swayed by two of her older sons who worship Rush Limpballs and just yesterday quoted the "cut and run" bs to me at a family gathering. I don't think she ever voted for *dumbass but an not sure.

Sib 2: Brother, taught school for 30 plus years, was guidance counselor at his local high school, is 2 semesters shy of his PhD in Education but has retired. He appears to be a moderate Dem, not at all rabid like me and our younger sister. His wife watches O'Liely but I am thinking she may just be doing that to get my goat.

Sib 3: Sister, "Prima Dona" and the epitome of narcissistic. Finishing school (our dad was a blue collar worker all of his life as well as hunted to supplement the table, plowed gardens and sharpened scissors to supplement the income so the finishing school thingy never computed for me), cheerleader, Catholic School. A chiropractor in Virginia Beach, has started listening to Michael Savage but I do believe she has voted Dem in the last 4 elections.

Sib 4: Me. Left home at 17, hitchhiked every state west of the Mississippi, with the exceptions of Montana and California, lived on a commune in Missouri in 1975 but was kicked off for not participating in the "free love" stuff and because I believed in cleanliness (long story). Moved to Colorado in early 1976, have voted Dem all of my voting life. Sometimes I feel I am channeling my paternal Grandmother, going off on tirades against those a$$holes in our government that don't represent me or the common good of this country.

Sib 5: Sister. Rabid, rabid, RABID Dem, getting more so as she gets older since she has become disabled and cannot work.

Sib 6: Sister. Republican, why, I don't know. She too, is disabled and has been screwed every step of the way, especially these past 6 years. How does one explain that?

I am proud to say that whatever the political affiliation of my sibs, my parents raised 6 college graduates, having instilled the "Knowledge is power" mantra in us from the beginning.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

43. All Republicans, since time immemorial.

I don't know of any other Democrats, even aunts, uncles, cousins.

My family are all middle-class, educated professionals, no fundies (not much religion at all). I went to college during the late '60s, got into the antiwar movement, which stirred up a lot of arguments with my parents. I'm not sure what the basis for their Republicanism ever was; maybe economic - more old school paleoconservatives. In those days they were your basic middle-of-the-road types, but they didn't think Nixon was a crook until Watergate proved he was. (My great aunt had a picture of Nixon on her living room wall, like a shrine; she never believed he did anything crooked.) I remained more or less active in lefty politics, finally stopped talking about it with my family because we'd always get into arguments. My dad is now elderly and a bit crotchety, and he gets mad when I dis Bush, so I pretty much shut up about it.

Brother #1 is sort of politically neutral these days; I've been pleased to hear him make a few snide comments about Bush's lack of intellectual ability.

Brother #2, last time I talked to him about it, is still somewhere to the right of Darth Vader, and I'm really not sure where he gets some of his ideas. He's extremely anti-tax, anti-government, and recently married a very nasty older woman who has Bush stickers all over her SUV. He may be hopeless

[NMDemDist2]

44. I have no siblings and my Mother was pretty apolitical

I never actually remember her stating a position on politics my whole life :shrug:

I was radicalized at the ripe age of 13 watching the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968 I remember crying as we watched the cops bash hippie heads and thinking "That could be me!"

I started marching against the war and in solidarity with Caesar Chavez that year and the rest (as they say) is history. I've never voted for a Republican except in the primaries. I was registered Repuke for years so I could vote in their primaries against the RW candidates, then always voted Democratic or 3rd party in the General Elections

Being a teenager in the 70's in California shaped my thinking and I haven't seen any reason to change it all these years.

:hi:

[life long demo]

49. My old Democratic family

Since I'm probably a lot older than most on this board, my parents, 1st generation Irish Americans, were Democrats, there really weren't any republicans in my large extended family. As far as liberal vs. conservatives, that didn't come into play till later. My Father was a Roosevelt Democrat, New Deal type. The highlight was when Kennedy was elected. I remember my Dad saying with the republicans, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And that was back before 1956 when he died, when I turned 13. The repugs are still true to that code. Became very active during the Vietnam war, participated in marches to bring our soldiers home. And never, never did I ever see or hear of anyone spit on a soldier. Also participated in civil rights marches. I have 5 siblings, 3 older, 2 younger. All but one is true to the Democratic party, their children are Democrats. My older brother fits the profile of the republican I got mine, the heck with you mentality. I am an environmentalist, believe in animal rights, civil rights, human rights, women's rights, etc.

[Odin2005]

50. Both parents are solid Blue.

My Dad's side of the family are all hard-core FDR/Labor Democrats, even bordering on being socialists. My Mom's side of the family are mostly moderate Dems with a string libertarian streak.

[AtomicKitten]

51. an interesting study

parents: Republican, Catholic.
sister: Timid nonactivist Democrat, agnostic.
sister: Republican, uber-fundie.
sister: Republican, Catholic.
brother: Republican, fundie.

And nobody is speaking to the other which is probably just as well because mahem would ensue.

[demdiva]

55. How did you turn out so well ;) (just kidding)

We have to love our Republican relatives the same as the Dem ones !!!

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

53. A mixed bag

My father comes from a long line of religious (Methodist and Lutheran) blue collar straight ticket Dems. He has always voted Republican. He's an "old school republican" who voted twice for Bush but has since realized his mistake. He was drafted during Vietnam and served in Germany where he met my mother.

My mother is a true blue American now. She bought into the whole Kennedy ideal during the 60's and most of the 70's when she became an independent and voted for Anderson in 1980. One of my first political memories was listening to my parents argue over Anderson and Reagan. She has since become a cynic about all things political, she's a conservative until it comes to the enviornement, then her European nature shines through!

I'm the firstborn and I'm a proud liberal. I'm fairly far to the left of my father, sister and mother. However my brother unbeknownst to my parents is actually further to the left than I am.

My sister, she leans republican, but, old school republican. She has many left leaning opinions especially where children and education are concerned.She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Elementary Education with a certification in Special Ed.

My brother, is a lefty, through and through progressive with a wife that comes from hippie parents. He doesn't talk about it much unless he's around me. We have wonderful lively discussions on many issues. Not bad for a kid that went through an Ayn Rand phase in college! He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in English and philosophy. I'm so proud of my baby bro!

None of us are very religious, except for my mother who continues to cling to her catholic upbringing. We're a spiritual bunch however. We all read like there's no tomorrow and keep ourselves educated about the world around us. Some of us are even writers.

[demdiva]

54. We're all a bit progressive but a bit different too

My mom is a professor of education so she usually tends to stand with democrats, but she's never been involved with politics really. I know she voted for Clinton/Gore and I'm pretty sure she voted for Kerry.

My dad grew up in a military family, and was in the military for a couple years himself (although never went to war) and I know that he voted for Perot ... I'm not sure who else. He always made a big deal out of the fact that he didn't have to tell us.

My sister who is only two years younger then me is pretty aligned with me politically. However, she was a huge fan of Clark/Dean/Edwards and I am a Kerrycrat.