Y!A political pundits, please describe your transition from liberal to conserative. Mine is below.?

Question

Jimmy Carter's presidency was followed by Ronald Reagan's presidency. I felt miserable about the country under Carter. The press constantly scared me about Ronald Reagan starting a nuclear war if he was elected. Reagan got our hostages out of Iran. Reagan lived through an assasination attempt and had a great sense of humor about it. Reagan retalliated against Libya. Reagan turned the economy around. Reagan ended the cold war. Reagan was the opposite of what the press actually described. This was also a turning point in my trusting American journalism.

I started watching Crossfire on CNN...Pat Buchanan made infinitely more sense than Michael Kinsley with his little vein popping out of his head. I noticed the ACLU was almost always undermining the best qualities of the US, and usually backed by democrat pundits.

In college, in a political science class, taking a self-information test on where I stand politically, I was conservative, but did not even know it.

coelus...that sounds like your church, not conservatives.

rubendictarnold, I was careful to distinguish the transition as "conservative"...not necessarily republican. I see some republicans are not conservative.

RKO, it's hard to believe you experienced both the Carter and Reagan presidencies and felt that Carter was the bomb...I didn't like Clinton at all, but in my mind, he's miles above Carter.

rubindictarnold, a southern democrat is more conservative than a north-east republican...or even Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.

I think Ron Paul is positioning himself to do a Pat Buchanan run in the Libertarian party. I've voted Libertarian before...when I haven't had a conservative choice...I'd do it again.

coelus....come on man, don't ask me to believe you had conservative politicians elected in san francisco give you a hard time...they don't exist.

Answer 1

No thinking person is always conservative or always liberal. These distinctions are meaningless if not considered in the context of a given issue.
It became almost impossible to receive good government when someone decided that the Republicans should represent all conservatives and the Democrats should represent all liberals.
Both parties have elements of each ideology and that is how it should be.
The national debate should be about how best to use the Federal government to solve problems. It should not be about whether or not the FICTIONAL liberals or the FICTIONAL conservatives win for the sake of winning.

Well good for you Vanilla. I'm happy to learn that there are others who aren't buying into this libcon nonsense. You must also be aware that there are Democrats who would be considered conservative on many issues. I'm a Democrat who is liberal on labor and environmental issues, but I am against illegal immigration and staunchly conservative on Constitutional issues, such as going to war without a declaration of war.

You bet we are. Apparently the Democratic party hasn't figured that out yet, because they don't have a single Presidential candidate that appeals to Southern Democrats.

Believe it or not, I'm looking really hard at Ron Paul. I know that it may seem strange for a Democrat to even consider voting for a Libertarian, but I don't like the way either of the major parties are trying to use the Federal government to force their agendas down everyone's throat. At this point, in our history, I think the Federal government and the major parties need a time out.

Answer 2

i went from conservative to liberal.

See, i was raised christian, in a christian household. They started condemning me to hell because, well im gay. Even tho i still believed in god as my savior blah blah blah at that point. I got cast out by my family, friends, church, everything. I had exorcisms and all sorts of crap. It make me take a serious look at the undercurrents of the conservative party. They are complete hypocrites and not a group i would ever again support. Even tho i agree with some republican ideals, i could never support a group that has a "do as i say not as i do" mentality, an unwillingness to accept responsibility, and are lying hypocritical morons.

edit: no, it wasnt just my church, its most conservatives i know. I was denied housing in SAN FRANCISCO of all places by conservatives. Ive been shuned every place ive lived by conservative groups, and im a very masculine guy, people dont know it less i tell them. A conservative group in oregon is trying to protest the domestic partnership law that was passed. Conservatives have no respect for other peopels lives, only their supposed morals.

edit: where did i ever say conservative politicians? I simply said conservatives, which, they were. Obviously becomming a conservative takes away your ability to read a sentence without adding additional provisions and interpretations.

Answer 3

Watching GWB get elected as a "compassionate conservative" then watching the deficit and national debt skyrocket over the next 6.5 years, while socialist legislation like NCLB, Medicare Drug Program, Patriot Act, and Military Commissions Act gets passed by these so-called neoconservatives.

Ron Paul '08, bring back the Republican Party!

Answer 4

Gee. You and I must have been looking through different rose-colored glasses! I viewed Jimmy Carter's Presidency as one of the most honorable in America's history. Carter worked hard to establish peace initiatives through diplomacy (instead of war). Carter gave up his run at re-election while he worked tirelessly trying to free 444 American hostages from Iran.

Reagan - whose girlfriend, Nancy, was pregnant before he divorced his first wife, Jane - miraculously announced during his inaugural address that the hostages had been freed. Did he bother to invite Jimmy Carter to the podium so they could raise their arms in victory? No; he took all the credit. Only later did we discover his sinister little plot called the IranContra affair, wherein he traded arms for hostages (and which became one of the this country's worst scandals in modern history). Reagan pissed away hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayers' money on an insane 'Star Wars' program that never materialized. Reagan was one of the top five worst U.S. Presidents in history (others include Herbert Hoover, George H.W. Bush, Lyndon Johnson, and - of course the WORST of the WORST, George W. Bush). Amazing how different people see things so differently, isn't it?? -RKO- 09/12/07

Answer 5

[I'm sorry, it's 1-2 lines for each step of my transition.] Me: I am content with my view that there are no gods. The gods: We are not. (whack) Me: I cannot reconcile my experiences with my beliefs. I must have a brain tumor. CT tech: It's not a tumor. Me: I must be insane. Overpriced shrink: You're not insane. Me: I am afraid to trust my experiences. The gods and several others, in chorus: You are expecting a level of evidence you do not use for anything else. You know what your favorite color and flavor is without independent verification... unless you are told to do something detrimental to yourself, why does it matter? Me: (grudgingly) I am content to believe there are gods until evidence comes along otherwise. I am unhappy that there has been no independent verification, but I think I can trust myself. The gods: Here, have some people you've never met approach you out of the blue with their experiences, and here are the events we told you would happen and you discussed with people before they happened. Me: But that's independent verification! The gods: eh, we suppose so. Better than being lonely, eh? Me: I am content to believe in the gods and if they want you to believe in them they will see that you do.