Do you have a different opinion of Republicans now than in the past?

[kentuck]

Or do you feel the same about them as always?

Was there a time that you recognized your political differences but you respected their right to have them?

Has that changed? Do you still see it as political differences or something larger?

How have they changed?

[underpants]

1. I thought they were wrong but I thought we lived in the same world

The latter is no longer true.

[walkingman]

2. In the past I disagreed with their ideology but since Trump I consider them a cult of evil.

[hlthe2b]

3. Not my grandfather's Republican party, that's for sure... Not even that of my late father/uncles

Even the party of Nixon-- and those who defended him-- does not approach what we see today.

[samnsara]

4. i have always considered them ignorant backward sadistic cheats..still do....

[TEB]

5. I'm more hostile and angry at the Republicans now

Vichy traitors

[Joinfortmill]

6. Very different. They can't put lipstick on this pig anymore.

[catbyte]

7. Absolutely.

I used to think they were stodgy old farts and backward thinkers; now they are nothing less than the embodiment of evil.

[lapfog_1]

8. Much of my family is Republican

before Reagan I viewed them as "misguided"...

but Reagan, Shrub, and now shit stain...

If the corona virus was 100% fatal to only republicans, I wouldn't shed a lot of tears.

They are an evil cult now (the Trumpers, not the Bob Dole republicans).

[C_U_L8R]

9. I used to think there were a few reasonable republicans.

Now I've realized none of them are republicans anymore.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

10. Yes, and I'm convinced that "they started it".

What I used to view as a civil disagreement started changing with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, etc.

Once I heard outright demonizations of liberals by them, I knew we were headed for greater division and animosity.

[Ohio Joe]

11. Yes...

The simple fact is the repubs do not deal in reality anymore.

[hatrack]

12. All the sickly sweet coating has been scraped from the core of venom

Other than that, they're who they always were.

[redstatebluegirl]

13. Growing up in a Republican county in Illinois raised by a family of activist Democrats I was raised

to believe that they were good people who had different views of policy than we had. With that in mind, yes I feel very differently about this republican party than I did of the old one. I used to get invited to cocktail parties as the "token Democrat" which was said in jest, because I could argue our point without getting in the mud. Now I find I can't do that any longer. I don't even have any Republican friends anymore. I have some cousins who have gone to the dark side, mainly because they stayed home in our small all white town and never had any additional education and have never had any contact with Black people.

My brother spent 35 years in the military and came out a staunch, Republican, but now tells me he can't vote for them anymore. He isn't a racist, he is strongly in favor of a strong military and fiscal conservatism. I don't agree with that, but it is more in line with old time republicans. He told me last night he is embarrassed he voted for any Republicans, he did not vote for Trump, he actually voted for Hillary which shocked me.

This batch of Republicans will go the way of the Whig party. There is a great book out there, that I found in a great used bookstore, it was called (I think), the Rise and Fall of the Whig Party. I need to find it in this house somewhere, it truly was a mirror image of what is happening right now without the internet and 24/7 news which I think has kept it alive longer than it should have lasted.

We should not be a one party country, it isn't healthy to not have a diverse group of opinions, great law comes from that, but the way things are now is going to bring the republic to it's knees.

[Frustratedlady]

14. Yes, very different. It used to be that no matter the party that ruled, they worked together...

for the most part.

Although I despise Trump, it is the Senate that upsets me the most. They have put the clamps on Congress and have stopped progress since Obama was in the Oval. Their "loyalty" (aka, terror of losing their Golden Egg) has left them impotent and spineless, which, in turn, allowed Trump and Barr to get by with whatever they desired to do.

McConnell has probably done more than anyone to make the Republican party so poisonous. I don't see how they can possibly recover from the damage he has caused. My parents were Ike Republicans and died long before this crew took over. They would be shocked.

Even if they regrouped and became a viable party, I would not vote for them because the stench would still be present. They have avoided sunlight for too long from being in their hidey-holes and will reek of evil for a long, long time.

[KentuckyWoman]

15. Yes

40 years ago I could find some respect.

Now if some says "proud republican" my assumption is stupid, selfish, racist, hateful, dishonest scumbucket who would sellout grandma for a nickel.

[mercuryblues]

16. When I became old enough to vote

I knew some were scoundrels. I don't know if it is the internet, age where we can read articles from across the globe or they ALL were scoundrels back then.

For me it seams they have metastasized from a few scoundrels to every single one of them into complete dishonorable, corrupt hate mongers. Wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible.

I'm hesitant to say this started with Nixon, only because he was the 1st president I paid attention to in my teen years. But I can see in retrospect how he openly courted the racists and Reagan courted the Evilgelicals for votes, while cementing the racist support.

[Bettie]

17. Used to think they were wrong

but not actually, honestly evil.

Now, I see that they have always been that way, but now they no longer bother to hide it.

[Chainfire]

18. They more I get to know them, (since Nixon) the less I like them

As far as I am concerned, there are two types of Republicans. The first group fights to protect their only true god; money. The second group, the worker Republicans, are manipulated by the first group.

The money Republicans tell the workers that the reason that they can not join the money clan is that the Democrats are taking what rightfully belongs to them and giving it away to people, generally people of color, who don't deserve it. The money Republicans offer the workers emotional issues that, since the issues cost them nothing, the money folks don't care about. The first group supports issues like walls, gun rights and abortions to keep the second distracted, occupied and angry. The money Republicans are so successful in their manipulation, that they have convinced the second group to work against their own best interests.

Although I despise the first group, I do understand their lust for power and the money that comes with the power. The second group is unfathomable, and ignorant but they are mean, hateful and dangerous people.

[2naSalit]

19. I figured out who they were when Nixon was around...

They've only become more vile and willing to sell out the country to feed their never satiable greed for wealth and power.

[SamKnause]

20. Yes.

I feel the same way about them as I do about the cops.

I fucking hate the cops.

Both groups are destroying this country.

The republican party is dead.

I had zero in common with them.

It was replaced with the Trump cult.

They are worse.

They are the greatest threat this country has ever faced.

They are racists, fascists, and theocratic in their actions and policies.

Protect and Serve is dead.

It was replaced with lie, bully, abuse, maim, and kill.

It saddens me when I think how great this country could be.

It will never be great under the influence of these 2 groups.


I feel the Democratic party bares some of the blame.

They have repeatedly caved to their demand as a ruse to be bipartisan.


Flame away.

[Tom Rinaldo]

21. Yes and No. I always knew that there were Republicans like Nicolle Wallace

I suspect that Nicolle's overall world view may have shifted toward the Left in recent years, but I have no doubt that she has always been an intrinsically decent human being, even when she worked in the Bush White House. Nowadays I find that virtually all of the Republicans who I would have admitted to having at least some grudging respect for as people have become overt Never Trumpers. I still disagree strongly with most of them on policy and priorities, but that doesn't negate my ability to have some respect for them. However there literally are only a handful of relatively high profile elected Republicans still struggling to retain their Republican Party identity in the Trump GOP era who I can even fleetingly muster any respect for.

[hunter]

22. No. Ronald Reagan was a loathsome slug who would do or say anything for a blowjob.

The corruption and racism of the Republican Party was outed with Nixon.

I thought so then, I think so now.

The Republican Party needs to die. We the people will kill it at the ballot box.

That's why the Republicans are so damned terrified of free and fair elections.

[roamer65]

23. My hatred is more pinpointed and extremely intense.

I viscerally hate Dumpists.

They aren’t human to me. They are a fascist virus.

[OriginalGeek]

24. i was surprised in the very early 80s to discover

my grandma was a registered republican. And then I found out she just never changed her affiliation but she voted Dem for everything.

I knew the woman who literally taught me racism was wrong couldn't really be a Reagan fan and was happy to find out I was right.

[Mike 03]

25. Yes, probably due to my own naivete

I have memories of watching the Iran Contra hearings and having positive feelings about some of the Republicans. There was one I really liked named Warren Rudman. IIRC he was more often in agreement with the Dems than members of his own party. My thought at the time was, "Our system works pretty well." But I know now there was a lot more to it than what I saw. I've matured and I know a lot I didn't know back then.

Then there was also Sam Nunn. For years I thought he was a Republican. My mom alerted me to the fact he's a Democrat.

Don't know what became of Rudman in terms of his views. I hope he didn't become a RW nutjob.

[Towlie]

26. When John McCain and Mitt Romney seem like good guys you know the GOP has completely lost its way.

[Midnight Writer]

27. I used to have lively, good natured debates with my Republican colleagues. Enjoyed them.

Now they get frothy mouthed and blazing eyed at the slightest provocation.

I thought one of my friends (worked side by side for decades) was going to hit me the other day because I mentioned "swift boating". Goddamn, that set him off. He went on a tirade about John Kerry, he's a traitor who threw away his medals and sided with the Viet Cong. Got right in my face and I actually thought he was going to swing on me.

I used to be determined to listen to both sides with an open mind, but now there is no other side.

It's all a fantasy world.