Who else has crossed the aisle in their lifetime?

B

Burnt Orangeman

1,000+ Posts
That is to say, changed party preferences in their lifetimes and why did you do it.

I've done it twice.
When I was a little kid I favored democrats just because my parents did. You know, the usual household brainwashing that formulates one's early religious and political leanings.

Then in college at UT I became pissed off at the unfairness of reverse racism and sexism inherent in affirmative action that kept my qualified white male buddies out of medical and law schools in the interest of diversification. That switched me to Republican and I voted for Ford and then Reagan twice.

I was a good little rubberstamp Republican oilman. Reagan reformed the tax code dramatically lowering taxes. I was in favor of it but overnight this dried up every oil company's drilling budget because there was much less incentive to take that high risk of drilling and benefit from the tax breaks than before. The oil business went into deep recession. Then, as Reagan, Cap Weinberger, and the Royal Saudi family conspired to artificially lower the price of oil to bankrupt the Soviet Union. I became one of 600, 000 people who used to be in the oil business and I felt very much stabbed in the back.

Further, I am a staunch defender of the 2nd amendment and gun collector. Reagan signed the unconstitutional McClure-Volkmer Act limiting the citizenry to 1986 technology forever.

That was the last time I voted Republican. I still favor Republicans regarding gun control whenever they actually do something for it, but otherwise favor Democrats on practically every thing else (except affirmative action).

Beyond politics though, I think the world is very dangerous; even more so than during the relatively peaceful and stable cold war.

Ergo, the presidency is no job for any stupid person as George W. Bush proved beyond any shadow of a doubt. I don't think all Republicans are idiots, for example I thought Richard Nixon was quite a brilliant man and quite a good president. Politics notwithstanding, I will vote for the smartest candidate regardless; not that it matters living in a hardcore red state.
 
Raised by a conservative family. Rebelled for a few years in college (early nineties) and favored the Dems. Grew up and came to my senses shortly after joining the real world.
 
I'm with Burnt Orangeman in respect to 2nd Amendment, and his political/philosophical journey mirrors my own from that standpoint.

Count me as a straight-ticket Republican who listened religiously to Rush every day on my 1 1/2 commute to and from school. Evidently still not understanding how to read, I lapped up the knee-jerk reactions to his pontifications.

When Clinton was first elected, I was SERIOUSLY scared - I truly thought the country as we knew it was going to end. I distinctly remember staring at the television in absolute shock, completely freaking out over how by the end of the '90's we would lose all of our Constitutional rights, and suffer under a repressive regime the like of which even Stalin had not envisioned. - Much like a large number of people were duped into believing when Obama ran.

Then I went to law school, and actually learned not only the law, but how to actually read and research matters before making a decision, rather than relying on what others told me as fact - and ultimately to think for myself.

I began to hear Rush and others on Fox news make blantantly false statements about the law - which prompted me to begin looking up other factual representations that they made. It pissed me off that I was being lied to as I was.

I voted for G.W. Bush both times. And then we discovered the multitude of lies (or flat out incompetence, if you prefer) that took us overseas at a borrowed/unpaid for cost of trillions, and the unnecessary loss of lives of thousands of young American men and women.

The Patriot Act was the nail in the coffin, for me. I don't give a crap that Democrats voted for it, too - the Republicans are the ones that had it already drafted and ready for passage, and have fought tooth & nail to keep it from sunsetting, questioning our patriotism if we oppose its continuation (thereby stating that believing in the Constitution itself is un-patriotic).

Combine that with 30 years of evidence that Republican "trickle-down" financial policy does nothing to help the middle-class, of which most Americans are members (rather, is at thier expense), while exponentially increasing the income of the already wealthy - and then flat out lying about the effects of those policies, as well, when the evidence to the contrary is clearly there for those that care to actually look something up.

I just couldn't take it any more. The Republican party, as it currently exists, disgusts me. I do not agree with Democrats on a number of matters and issues, but I'll take them over the Republicans right now any day of the week.

And you know what? In retrospect, the '90's actually turned out to be pretty good...
 
Law school, eh? Let me guess...you're a trial attorney.

I have a buddy who is a personal injury attorney and flat out admits that today's dems are off the reservation, batshit crazy. But he votes for them anyway as they protect his profession. I give him one point for honesty, and subtract ten for being a selfish *******.
 
I actually didnt know that.

Do what you have to do to convince yourself that you're voting Dem for more reasons than protecting your personal livelihood. It's a basic human trait. Not saying I wouldn't fall victim to it, too, if i were in your shoes.
 
I was ultra liberal when at UT. Joined the University Democrats and some pro-choice group.

After moving to TN, and going through a 3 year custody battle, I realized that many of the forces fighting against me (NOW, the government) were on the left whereas many that supported me (Father's rights groups, several local conservative politicians) were on the right. I had grown up with the teachings of equality and fairness in public schools; however, upon just wanting to see my daughter 50% of the time, I was told that I couldn't due to the fact that I was a father. So, the woman that smoked while pregnant, couldn't hold a job and lived at home got my daughter 85% of the time while I became a visitor to my own child. BTW, at one point, my ex threatened to have an abortion where I found out I also had no say-so in that either.

I am now staunchly conservative, pro-2nd amendment and I abhor the government.

BTW, my daughter is now 14 and she and I are extremely close. She hopes to go to UT-Austin in 4 years and work in forensic science.
 
I change it all the time and pretty much with every election. I go by the candidate and their stance on the issues that most concern or affect me. I pay very close attention to local politics and am involved in my neighborhood association so we get to meet many candidates throughout the year.

I have no problem voting R, D, I, L or G. Does not matter to me. I register D to vote in primaries but my vote is scattered. I don't know that I could ever vote a straight ticket for anybody and know for a fact I never have.
 
James Earl Carter pretty much made me lean Republican. William Jefferson Clinton cemented the likelihood that I consider anyone with a 'D' by their name as guilty by association. I cannot and will not vote for them. I get mad at Republicans and I'll certainly consider any independent, but never again vote for a Democrat.
 
I haven't totally "crossed the aisle," because there's no where to go. I still vote in Republican primaries, but I rarely if ever vote for establishment Republican candidates and frequently split my vote and vote third party or independent in general elections.

Like TxState Horn Fan, I was an avid Rush listener from around 1991 (when I was in 11th grade) until about 8 years ago. I was a staunch philosophical conservative, who believed in a very limited federal government. I read several books by conservatives (starting with "The Way Things Ought to Be" by Limbaugh). I believed Clinton to be dangerous and sleazy. By the 1992 election, I was a hardcore, partisan Republican. I believed Republican political leaders were not only philosophically right but morally superior to and more patriotic than their Democratic counterparts.

When Republicans took over Congress in 1994, I was euphoric. Some of what they did or tried to do I still strongly agree with, like welfare reform, attempting to close federal departments that have unconstitutional roles, trying to pass a balanced budget amendment, and a handful of other items.

However, over time, it became clear to me that outside of their first year or two in control of Congress, their actions didn't match their rhetoric. The balanced budget amendment stopped coming up for debate. While talk about downsizing government continued, spending kept going up. Furthermore, when Bush became president, it went up spectacularly.

In fact, in general, actions that would have been demonized under Clinton were celebrated under Bush. That's really what pushed me away. My philosophy hasn't changed much since 1992. However, the politicians who claimed to agree with my philosophy didn't advance it in practice.

During the time I've been politically cognizant, the one constant has been the unwavering Republican support for giving tax preferences and sometimes blatant corporate welfare to very wealthy individuals and large business interests (especially insurance, pharmaceutical companies, energy/oil and gas, large manufacturers, etc. That never seems to change.

Why not jump over and become a Democrat? Because I don't think much of the hippies and counter-culture either. Furthermore, the Democrats take positions on several issues that in my view are not only disagreeable to me but utterly indefensible - the blind willingness to dump money on public education without meaningful accountability, the refusal to be honest about the big entitlement programs, the disregard of states' rights and the role of federalism (the GOP isn't much better), excessive chumminess with organized labor, refusal to do anything serious about on federal spending (except make it worse), etc. Furthermore, they're in the back pockets of several corporate crooks as well, like GE.

So for the last several years, I've voted for a lot of Libertarians (like Bob Barr for president in 2008), a handful of Democrats, and the few Republicans who aren't bought and paid for.
 
I'm proud of what I do. I help right the wrongs of other, and work to preserve the Constitutional rights and right to trial in which your Founding Fathers so heavily believed.
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this is bs, i worked for 3 different big firms before going in-house and in all the cases ive handled and all the attorneys ive known, ive never known anyone that actually believes this, everyone is after the dollar. the system itself is beyond corrupt.
 
I have voted Republican and Democrat- and hope I always will.

I came to UTexas primarily a Republican from family influence- and education I should say made me a moderate.

I feel strongly about issues like energy, abortion, crime, fiscal policy- but I can never, and will never, understand nor relate to those here on the board or my personal family members who pick one issue- say gun control or abortion- and make that the reason why they vote for an entire candidate or party.

We face several hundred important issues- so, if Bozo the Clown was running, supported one important position to me- but was still a dumb clown- I'd probably vote for the other guy or just not vote at all.

I also have no idea how some people here can honestly tell me that party [X] represents their views perfectly on every single issue- and that they would never consider voting the other party. Are you guys really all one homogenous group of like minded individuals with no differences? Do you guys really think Ronald Reagan would agree with anything Sarah Palin said? Or Mike Dukakis and JFK?

I'd like to think the world, and we are a bit more complex than saying I am a "Republican/Democrat."
 
It's interesting to read the paths of those who were ideologues but thought their way to a new and better way of approaching their politics. Both sides of the aisle have their mindless ideologues and their thoughtful members who settled on the better of compromises according to their world view.

It's also interesting to see the barking of those who embrace the simplicity of believing in your ideology as though it were your infallible religion. Such contrast.

I've tended Dem my whole life. I never felt proud or fulfilled by the choice, just the lesser of two evils. Nixon had a profound effect on me as a collegian (he resigned just before I came to UT).

I've voted other parties over the years, but not too terribly much. I mainly posted on this thread to tip my hat to the very good posts on it.
 
I used to be a Republican. But I changed when I realize that the Republican Party doesn't care about my people.
 
Like several Democrat as a youth, Republican as older adult, and disgusted Independent now. Just vote the least undesirable every election.
On the lawyer bit, I can tell you my daughter is a public defender and she is absolutely devoted to her duty. Just so you know.
Hookem
 
I've noticed many accountants are Republicans and consider themselves fiscally responsible.

However, the only president in my lifetime who could possibly be accused of being fiscally responsible is one William Jefferson Clinton (with the help of a Newt Gingrich led Congress).
 
I have gone from Republican to Conservative to Republican to Conservative aka Tea Party. I will not go back to Republican, Tea Party all the way.

Conscience of a Conservative
 
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