Have you ever come across a person that didn't know why they're part of a political party?

Question

Today i had physical therapy bc i was recently in a car accedent. I was chatting with two of the therapists who both said they were democrats. Curiosity killed the cat but if a mack truck can't take me out, i think ill do fine with curiosity... I asked why they are democrat and the only answer i got was they dont like bush. I informed them that thats not a reason bc many republicans at this point are not too fond of the man either.

So to occupie my hyperactive political brain i made up two papers that had things listed like iraq war, military, gay marriage, abortion, taxes, welfare, UN, ect... I even used a third party, a liberal older woman getting therapy for her hip, so that if they would ask a question i wouldn't just make my side sound better. I then told them to write what they think about each. Both Martha(the liberal older woman) and I read what they wrote and agreed that they were no doubt Republican with the exception that the one girl was for abortion and same sex marriage

Answer 1

I think people are enchanted with the idea of being a democrat because they think democrats are 'for the people'. What they don't realize is most democrats are for the homogenization of people therefore rendering them nonthreatening. Also they are mostly 'pro choice' or as I like to call it anti-life. So how is that 'for the people' if they support the death of people?

Anyway, to answer your question: yes, many times.

Answer 2

Not only have I run across this, I find this to be the case 99% of the time. Most people have one party affiliation or another based on misinformation, family, historical reasons, or as an attempted to be accepted by one's peer group.

I have seen it on both sides of the political spectrum, Republicans and Democrats; but it seems to be more prevalent with Democrats.

I have lived throughout the country, and I currently live in Maryland. Maryland is a very "blue" state, and I have heard many people say they are life long Democrats but when I have asked why a given a person is a Democrat, usually the only answer I get is the Republicans are bad, my family has always voted Democrat, or the Democrats are for the common man. The two former reasons are just about the most invalid reasons I can think of to vote for a particular political party. The latter is perfectly valid as long as it can be justified. However, usually when I ask a person who has answer the latter his/her stance on similar topics you have mentioned. The answers I get are astonishing, most people are either moderates or right of center; and do not support the core values of the Democratic Party.

I would be interested in attempting the inverse in a "red" state, and see if the results are the same.

I have also seen this on Yahoo Answers. Many of the users who claim to be 'liberal to the core,' are actually vehemently against many of the Democratic Party's official stance on issues.

This is not to say that this does not happen with Yahoo answers conservative posters, but I have not seen many conservatives come out against the official Republican Party platform.

Answer 3

Actually, I was shocked once by the honesty of a co-worker. While discussing an upcoming election, he said that he didn't have to keep up with current issues because he had already made up his mind -- he was a Democrat. His parents were Democrats, he was a Democrat and if he ever had kids (at this point in his life it didn't look promising) they would be Democrats. He said that by deciding to be Democrat, he didn't have to keep up with the issues, the news or the candidates. He always voted and always voted the same way -- along the Democratic party ticket. At least he was open and honest on that one subject.

I contrasted his belief to that of my parents. My parents had always been Democrats until the party started to change around them. It was no longer the party that Presidents Roosevelt and Truman had headed.

No one stated this same sentiment better than Zel Miller who had been a Democrat all of his life UNTIL the 2004 election. His speech in Sept 2004 was so inspiring, it was all I could do to keep from standing up and cheering. It should be required reading for every Democrat. They should re-evaluate their position.

http://www.command-post.org/2004/2_archives/014903.html

Many of the Democrats that have taken a good look at their party and its leaders (Gore, Ted Kennedy, Kerry, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Hillary, Nancy Polasi) have decided that they really aren't Democrats at heart.

However, many more, like the person I used to work with, believe that ignorance is bliss and will always vote as a Democrat!

Answer 4

one thing you might have missed though is that some people base their party on one or two beliefs and some base it on the broad spectrum.. overlooking one or two things.. for example.. I'm a moderate democrat.. my girlfriend is a moderate republican.. we actually agree on better than 95% of our ideas.. but because I overlook a few things to pick a group that is more like myself whereas she is more focused on those issues.. we claim different parties.. one way isn't any better than the other.. and we need both types of thought.. just letting you know it's more difficult of an answer than "how they did on the quiz"

P.S. It is true though that a lot of people on all sides don't know why they are there.

P.P.S. Chainsaw.. of course they are going to find more democrats.. that is who they are looking for on that show.. a democratic show would do the same to republicans.

Answer 5

I find a lot more are Democrats than Republicans. Sean Hannity does a man on the street segment on Thursday and he has random people being asked questions relating to politics or government. They always find people who call themselves Democrats but cannot offer any reasons why.

Answer 6

Yes, in 2004, tens of millions.