At about age six, I asked my Adlai Stevenson-loving Mom: "What's the difference between

[Atticus]

Last edited Wed Apr 19, 2023, 04:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Democrats and Republicans?" Here's her answer (paraphrased, of course, but essentially accurate):

"The simple answer is that the Democrats are for us poor people and the Republicans are for the rich. But, now, some good rich folks are Democrats and some misguided poor folks are Republicans.

If a person is greedy and does not care about others, they're most likely a Republican, no matter what size their house is or what car they drive, if any.

If a person is generous and kind and helps those who need it, they are probably a Democrat, once again--- no matter what size their house is or if they even own a car.

Democrats believe we're all equal. Republicans think they're better than most.

That's why your Dad and I are Democrats. Understand?"

ME: "Yup! I'm a Democrat, too, Mom!"

Have been ever since.

[woodsprite]

1. Your mom was awesome and explained it so well! nt

[Joinfortmill]

2. There's a lot of truth in what you say, but many won't admit to it.

[republianmushroom]

3. like it

[NNadir]

4. Neither of my parents were Democrats although my grandmother...

...claimed that my father should not marry my mother because she claimed my mother was exactly that, a Democrat. (She wasn't; she was what we now call a "swing voter." )

My father voted Democratic once in his life, for Harry Truman in 1948, which caused all of his aunts to not speak to him until two years later they joined in the campaign to keep him from marrying my mother on the grounds they suspected her of being a Democrat.

This was apparently because as a young woman, my mother said nice things about FDR.

[Maru Kitteh]

5. I wonder what that same conversation sounds like in a Republican family.

It's sad to think about, really.


People that see enemies, thieves and rapists everywhere they look. People who shoot their neighbors for ringing the door bell and 89lb 20yo young women for riding in a car that happens down the wrong drive.

[patphil]

6. My father always told me, "The Republicans never did a thing for the common man".

He, and my mother, were born and raised in Wisconsin, and moved to New York State during the depression. Both were lifelong Democrats, as am I.

[LakeArenal]

14. Raised in the WI that unionized first and inaugurated the first Earth Day.

That’s the WI I’m from. Kochconsin has ruined all that.

[patphil]

32. Where in Wisconsin?

My folks were from the Neehah, Kaukana, Appleton area of Wisconsin. My dad had Menominee Indian blood; 1/8. So that makes me 1/16. He used to point to my little finger and tell me that was about all the Menominee in me....he looked like a Native American, with a bit of German and Irish blended in.

Wisconsin needs to be liberated from the chains of Republicanism.
I hope the recent SC race is an indicator of better days to come for Wisconsin.

[LakeArenal]

37. Mr Lake is born and bred Green Bay.

My dad and brother lived/live in Appleton.

I was brought up in Fond du Lac.

We spent 40 years married in the Portage area until we moved to Costa Rica.

We also lived in Madison,Belleville, Fitchburg and Baraboo.

We commuted to work on Madison.

Worked on the recall of Walker and I worked on Evers campaign.

[SouthernDem4ever]

52. Your father was right then,

and still is today.

[housecat]

7. Good explanation! A somewhat oversimplified version: Democrats we we we. Republicans me me me

[mahina]

8. May be no coincidence but my Dad and I had that exact convo. Almost word for word, with the same

response from me.

Lifetimes of evidence support his theory, and your Mom's.

One day as an adult I told my Dad that I thought my uncle, his brother, may be a Republican. His response? This 6'4" former special forces warrior, who loved his brother as I do to this day?

"I'm afraid you may be right."

I was, but he isn't any more. Trump did that one good thing.

Aloha e Atticus.

[nuxvomica]

9. I wonder what a Republican mom would say

I can't even imagine the conversation.

[raging moderate]

56. My mother was a Republican because her family had been Abolitionists.

Last edited Mon Apr 24, 2023, 07:44 PM - Edit history (2)

She was following a long family tradition of venerating Thaddeus Stevens, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Ulysses Grant. And all her family were serious Abolitionists, especially her maternal grandparents. Both had had older brothers fight and die to free the slaves, and her grandmother's 16-year-old drummerboy brother (George S. Barnes) had been captured and slowly tortured to death by the Confederates. I am looking at a little wooden tray he prepared to send to her from the Union hospital, right after he had been liberated from the POW camp. The doctors had just told him they could not save him and he was going to die soon, but he loved his little sister. He carved his name and her name and "Remember Me" in shaky letters.

My great-grandmother grew up and married a man from an Abolitionist family. My great-grandparents had Black houseguests a few times. And they waited on those Black people themselves, and they were proud to do so. They had both been taught to respect Black people. They had no servants. He did the woodchopping and repair work; she did the cooking and cleaning; they both did the gardening. He was the minister in a small-town Minnesota Methodist Episcopal church, and she helped him run it. Later in life, they took an active role in that great petition drive to close those horrible "Indian schools." I am looking at the little Native American mother and baby doll set somebody sent them to thank them for those efforts.

So my mother was being loyal to her family. And Dwight Eisenhower was pretty good, as somebody commented here, and so were Everett Dirksen and Nelson Rockefeller. As her life continued, my mother gradually noticed that there were many fine Democrats, such as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Hubert Humphrey, and that increasing numbers of Republicans seemed to be spouting old racist sentiments. She voted for more and more Democrats. I will never forget her sad face, not long before she died, as she told me, "I guess I am voting for all Democrats this year."

[sab390]

10. Will Rodges said

"I'm not a member of any organized party, I'm a Democrat".
I always say the problem with the Democrats is they can never do what they say they'll do. The problem with the Republicans is they can.
I'd rather have incompetent people who try to do good than evil assholes out to screw everyone. W said no-one wants class warfare, but that's what this has been. And for 40 years my side has been losing badly.

[brakester]

23. Dems have been growing a backbone lately

I'm thrilled at the progress dems have been making in leaving the doormat behind and becoming active and outspoken.

In a democracy or representative governmental society, change comes SO SLOWLY. It's been aggravating for the last 5 or 6 years, but I have been seeing inspiring progress on our side. Very happy camper lately! Being an active citizen takes fortitude and being in it for the long haul. Just like roller-coaster dieting doesn't establish a healthy lifestyle.

[niyad]

31. And think about how much gqp is responsible for your second sentence.

[sab390]

44. I think we are our own worst enemy

But we have to change for the better and fight or we will all perish together. Us and the Rs. We either over whelm them or we drown with the lemming Rs.

[betsuni]

49. "Democrats ... can never do what they say they'll do" because since Gingrich the party's priority

has been politics as total war, total obstruction, total corruption. How is this Democrats' fault? They had plenty of cans of magical Stop It fight spray and refused to use it?

[treestar]

54. +1

Rodgers nailed it

[Butterflylady]

11. Asked my grandma when I was about ten

If she and grandpa were republicans like my parents a and she said no we are democrats. After being taken back a spell I asked why? She looked at me and said one name, Roosevelt.

[brakester]

29. Very succinct!

Even though my whole family were died in the wool democrats, my grandmother gave that very succinct one name answer too. She saw I was interested (at 8 yrs old) and educated me about the golden age of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelts and Frances Perkins. All were caring, forward thinkers and effective leaders.

[A HERETIC I AM]

53. Dyed.

Dyed in the wool. Means “thoroughgoing, uncompromising”.

The idiom derives from the practice of dying wool that has been washed, combed or “carded” to remove tangles and bits of trash, but which has not yet been spun into yarn.

Not “died in the wool” which doesn’t mean what you think it means!

Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

[BOSSHOG]

12. Adlai Stevenson said

I will stop telling the truth about Republicans when they stop lying about democrats

They’ve been assholes for generations.

[Captain Zero]

28. And also he said,

When told by a supporter that he surely had the vote of every thinking person, Adlai replied, "That's great if I do, unfortunately, I still need a majority."

[Hamlette]

39. I'd forgotten that quote. A gem indeed.

[BOSSHOG]

43. And so sad that it would still apply today

Another video on DU today mtg in committee nonstop lying while the cameras roll.

[CurtEastPoint]

13. omg I asked my 3rd grade teacher and she said, verbatim, "Democrats are the party of the people...

and Republicans are the party of business.' True 60 years ago (or more!) and true now.

[Hamlette]

15. my family believes Adlai's loss was the beginning of a downward spiral for the US

he was our last best hope.

[Atticus]

18. My mother read this to me after his loss:

"Someone asked me...how it felt and I was reminded of a story that a fellow townsman of ours used to tell--Abraham Lincoln. They asked him how he felt once after an unsuccessful election. He said he felt like a little boy who had stubbed his toe in the dark. He said that he was too old to cry, but it hurt too much to laugh.”

― Adlai E. Stevenson II

[Hamlette]

38. I used to have a "hole in the shoe" pin and wore it for years.

I loved it. People would ask about it and I could tell them how wonderful Adlai was even though I only have vague memories myself, my family told me tons.

[Hope22]

16. Your momma put that so perfectly ...

Thank you for sharing!

[cksmithy]

17. My dad talked about how great Adlai Stevenson was, I can actually remember him saying he was

a great and wonderful politician and should of been elected president. I was born in 1951, and have a pretty good memory of what my family life was like back then. My father slowly changed, I think because of church/religious reasons, to supporting George Wallace in 1968. There was no fox news, but men only church meetings once a week.

I am a Democrat, have not and will not ever vote for a republican. I research all votes for judge seats, city council, etc. Just won't republican. Also, your mother's thoughts were my dad's in the 1950's, but they were changed by our church which I left in my 20's.

[womanofthehills]

47. Same here - my dad loved him

My dad was a big talker so I heard about Adlai Stevenson daily.

[calimary]

19. Yep. That about nails it.

Always has been that way.

[GeoWilliam750]

20. Authoritarian versus humanitarian

[MLAA]

21. Smart mom!

[Silent3]

22. Then again, Stevenson lost to an Eisenhower who would be decried as a socialist these days

Back in Stevenson and Eisenhower's day some of the biggest bigots were southern Democrats. Before the "southern strategy" kicked in full force to woo all of the racist Dixiecrats into the Republican party, I think I'd have done more case-by-case voting rather than being a straight-ticket Democrat as I am today.

[lucca18]

24. I love this! So true!

My father also loved Adlai Stevenson.😍

[FakeNoose]

25. My parents rarely discussed politics that I can recall

It was a mixed marriage - my Mom was a Democrat, my Dad was a Republican. But he was for the Eisenhower-types, back when the Republicans were still respectable. I don't think my Dad would consider voting for any of these Rs today, if he were still with us.

My parents raised 9 Baby-boomer kids who are now grown up, married with kids of their own. I don't think anyone in my family votes R. It seems the next generation is even more liberal than their parents.

[PJMcK]

26. Dude, that is an awesome tale!

It hits home for me because both of my parents independently told me essentially the same lessons when I was about 5 or 6.

Hat tip for the memories. I've been a life-long Democrat as well.

Your mom is a very special person.

[blueinredohio]

27. My dad always said

If a democrat is in office you work, if a republican is in office you don't have a job.

[live love laugh]

30. Yup the "billionaires-are-all-bad" trope fits the definition too.

They’re not all Crows and Kochs.

[mchill]

33. Ah, my mother loved Adelai Stevenson too

As well as FDR, but I never asked her why. This makes sense given my mother being an RN and in Donna Read’s Mothers for Peace.

[Tikki]

34. About the same age as you my single mother took me to an Eastern Washington

State park to hear Democratic Senator Scoop Jackson speak.
Like you, I was young and I remember my mother telling me that republicans will never do anything to help single mothers.
And they never have and never will. And really haven’t helped two parent families unless they are very wealthy.

Tikki

[TNNurse]

35. My mother explained that FDR kept people from starving

and made job opportunities. She told me about when the train carrying his body travelled through our town and the town where most of my family lived and how people stood all along the tracks to show their respect.

[Stuart G]

36. K and R...Thanks for posting. Great Post. Thanks for all your work for Democratic Underground

and........Our family loved Adlai Stevenson too. He was from Illinois

[mountain grammy]

40. My parents were also for Stevenson

My mom always said we’re democrats because we work for a living.

[Seinan Sensei]

41. My kids asked me what a Republican is

I said a Republican is someone
who thinks poor people have too much money
and rich people don't have enough.

My kids angered a few schoolteachers with that one !!

[Xolodno]

42. He was also instrumental during the Cuba Missile Crisis.

Many were advising Kennedy to proceed with an airstrike followed by invasion. He advised to find a diplomatic solution and knew rash decisions when tempers are high rarely come down to your side in history. Trump nearly got us into a war with Iran because of his rash decision and heated temper.

Of course, he got accused of being an appeaser by some inside DC at the time. But he took a step back to ask the question, what if we were the cause of this?

[liberal N proud]

45. I have always asked those who are not rich, how could they vote against their own interest

All with that perception, republicans are for the rich and only the rich

[LAS14]

46. Brings back memories of my Adlai Stevenson supporting mom. nt

[Lucky Luciano]

48. There is an asterisk to all that.

At the time, southern Democrats Or Dixiecrats still existed and they were scum.

[czarjak]

50. The Civil Rights Act sent my Klan-Daddy to the R side in 1964.

[LaMouffette]

51. My mom said almost these exact same words to me when I asked this question on Election Day 1972.

We were sitting in our car outside of my mom and dad's assigned polling place: the disturbingly named Richard M. Nixon Elementary School. She and my dad were about to vote for Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern, and this was the moment that I, too, became a lifelong Democrat.

[alterfurz]

55. 1960: When JFK's presidential campaign piqued his teen grandson's budding interest in politics...

...Depression-Era Grandpa Ralph explained to him all he thought the boy, as a future member of the working class, needed to know about the subject [paraphrasing here]: "All politicians will lie and grift, but the dime's worth of difference is that the Republican wants every goddam dollar for himself, while a Democrat will sometimes throw you a dime.”

2023: Same as it ever was, only more so.