Recovering Republicans

[heidi]

My parents are registered republicans; they're voting for Kerry/Edwards. My grandmother changed her party during Clinton's impeachment, after 50+ years as a republicanj she is also voting for Kerry/Edwards.

Other Republicans are realising that Bush is bad for business.

Comments

[bkdelong.livejournal.com]

You should truly take the time to take some photos, (if your parents and grandmother allow it), and record or have them write a statement of why they are "switching" and post it - then send a link to the Kerry campaign. I'd love to see a Web site for "Switchers" - not sure Apple would dig it...but I certainly would.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

My dad is a recovered Republican. The last Republican he voted for was Nixon in 1968 - then after Watergate he said, Never again. Congrats to your family members for seeing the light :)

[catmcg.livejournal.com]

Bless you, Heidi. Not only are you a credit to the fandom, but you're a real patriot. :)

[nostrademons.livejournal.com]

I wish my friend had enabled comments on his blog, where he argues that liberals frequently switch to conservative, but conservatives never switch to liberal.

I also wish I could point out, in his latest entry, that the 50% of Americans who pay no income taxes account for only 15-20% of the U.S.'s aggregate income.

[likebunnies.livejournal.com]

My husband was very Republican. Military Guy Republican. Then came Bush. My step father was a die hard Reagan Republican. Then came Bush. It's not that they don't still believe in many of the things they used to believe in. It's that the party changed. They had to change. Had to find something better.

[partitioning.livejournal.com]

To me, it's very encouraging that some Republicans are not voting for Bush, even the most die-hard Republicans. I've seen it in myself also.

[virginia-bell.livejournal.com]

Before the DNC, I was only supporting Kerry because he wasn't Bush, but now, I'm supporting Kerry because he is Kerry and because his ideas, values, and policies can take this country in a better direction.

Kerry's speech, taking in consideration his - er - lack of Edwards-esque charisma, was absolutely amazing. I cried through it and at the end. I'm such a screwed up person. :-)

Signing off, V.M. Bell

[mmichelle.livejournal.com]

My great-uncle has been a Republican his entire life. He's from southern Georgia and wears a Confederate flag belt. He's never, ever voted for a Democrat.

....

He's voting for Kerry, because Bush is (and I quote) "such a scary idiot."

I find things like that infinitely reassuring.

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

My grandmother changed her party during Clinton's impeachment; after 50+ years as a Republican she is also voting for Kerry/Edwards.

It's so wonderful, what a few blowjobs can accomplish.

Think what might have been possible if he'd only schtupped her.

[lizardlaugh.livejournal.com]

I am a recovering Republican as well, though I was never really in full agreement with them. I was a capitalist. I wanted smaller government (still do). I believed in individual rights. I am not, nor ever will be, a "liberal" for those reasons. However, for those very same reasons I am not a conservative... and I will be voting for Kerry.

The final straw for me was when the Senate GOP pissed all over the Constitution. I hold that piece of paper sacred. I will no longer be voting Republican.

Not recovering Republicans, but...

[viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com]

My brother is an Independent -- socially liberal (or libertarian, depending on the issue ^_^) and fiscally conservative. He voted for Bush in 2000. He's voting for Kerry this year. In February, I registered to vote for the first time in 5 years. Before that, I'd voted exactly once -- and it wasn't for a Democrat. Not only am I voting for Kerry-Edwards this year, I've donated money to their campaign. My brother and I both live in battleground states, and just about everyone our age that we know -- Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, Independent -- is unhappy with Bush and planning to vote against him. Whatever else you might say about him, Bush has certainly done a great job of energizing the under-30 'slacker' vote. ^_^

Re: Not recovering Republicans, but...

[ladylisse.livejournal.com]

My old high school has the Students For Peace and Justice organization, which had like ten people when I was there. Now it was close to a hundred and my baby sister and I have these long bitchfests about the government when we get a chance to talk. And then she tells me she does the same thing with her friends.

These are the kids who will be voting in the next round of House and Senate elections. They're not big on the whole get-out-the-vote campaigns, but they're the sort of slacker/stoner kids that get typecast as non-voters. But they're very aware of politics and they're very aware of what the issues are, and they're complaining because they're too young to vote. My sister says that these kids are worried about a draft.

I think when I was their age I was worried about sales at the Gap.

le sigh about ageism

[greyandgrey.livejournal.com]

Since I can't vote, myself, I am trying my damndest to turn my parents into recovering republicans. I have a much better chance with my dad, I think. I've pulled them in to watch the DNC every night this week, and I'm crossing my fingers.
I wish I knew how my brother was voting... or if he is voting. If he's not, I wonder if I can vote for him... Hmmmmm...(continues wishful thinking)

[crystaltear.livejournal.com]

my grandfather is also one :) Conservative to the point where it drives me up a wall, but he will vote Kerry this time around, because he wants what is best for him and his country

[debellatrix.livejournal.com]

When I cast my vote for Reagen in 84, I was doing so as a third generation Republican. Up until a few years ago, I could easily have supported a candidate from either party. However, four words guarantee that I will never vote for ANY Republican again: Kenneth Star, George Bush.

My father who was adamantly Republican, as so many of his contemporaries and our socio-eco status are (were), was a fierce Republican for most of my childhood. He also has changed parties and if possible has more animosity and bitterness toward his old one as I do.

And, I am sure, that if my grandparents were alive today, they would have left the party as well.

Re: Not recovering Republicans, but...

[viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com]

my baby sister and I have these long bitchfests about the government when we get a chance to talk. And then she tells me she does the same thing with her friends.

That sounds a lot like me and my brother. ^_^ It's pretty amazing how people's attitudes have changed over the past two years or so.

I think when I was their age I was worried about sales at the Gap.

I was aware of politics as a teenager. But, then, the first Gulf War happened when I was in junior high, and my Dad was in the Navy. We lived on a military base, so the things that are happening to usall now -- threat levels, security measures, armed guards, people you know being sent off to fight -- had all already happened to me. It was a really surreal experience.

Back then, I checked out both the right and left -- and found them sorely lacking. I could get behind some of the things that both sides claimed to believe, only to discover that they didn't actually believe them in practice. So, why bother? Why get in involved when it's all just a giant game. Now, though, we're far beyond the 'usual' politics or parties or right and left on this issue, I think that's why so much of the disenfrachised 'youth' vote feels motivated to do something.

[nekiko27.livejournal.com]

I saw a cool bumper sticker that said Republicans for Kerry ^_^ It made me happy.

[ashesofautumn.livejournal.com]

Ah. My father's another Republican voting for Kerry. 'I don't want an unintelligent idiot in the oval office,' he says!

Even though, technically, Bush has been good for him and his company. :D Good thing apprecation of intelligence (and understanding of its necessity) wins out over money.

[ella-macmillan.livejournal.com]

I don't know who my parents last voted for, but I know Mum's voting for Kerry.
Dad doesn't like either one, but I'm trying to convince him the trial lawyer for vice president isn't so bad. I've been invoking the campaign for Edwin Edwards (haha, I really find my state amusing sometimes): "Vote for the crook. It's important!"