How many people here on DU were once rethugs/conservatives?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

37. I decided I was a Republican in about the 9th grade....seriously

Family Ties was big at the time, and I admired the Alex Keaton character. More importantly, I hung out with the rich kids, one of whom had a mother who was the head of the county Republicans, a Jimmy Carter hater, the whole works. This is how I got tickets to the 1984 Reagan/Mondale after-debate Republican party at the Hyatt in Louisville, KY.

I didn't have a political bone in my body to speak of, but I did want acceptance with my rich friends. This is not to say that I went around thinking, "I want acceptance with my rich friends". Rather, it's just something you kind of do when you're in 9th grade. Also of note: my parents have always been Democrats, and at that time, I wanted to rebel against my dad as much as possible. The Republican Party seemed to be the perfect vehicle for this sort of thing.

After the '84 election season, I went back to being a nothing, a student, a kid hanging out. I started nominally calling myself a Democrat again, but this didn't have any real meaning behind it. It wasn't until about 1996 that I became a Democrat, in name and in deed.

So I was never really a Republican. I was worse. I was a poser who wanted to be a Republican.