Ex-Pubbies Report Here!

[Ladyhawk]

Have you ever been a Republican? When did you change and for what reasons?

Me: Reluctant Republican as of 2002, changed parties due to the shrub and Iraq War. It got hard to ignore that the whole thing was a big lie. Before that, I had my head in the sand. The Iraq War appalls me so much that I get physically ill when I think about it.

I'm also beginning to wonder if pacifism isn't the way. War seems to only plant the seeds for the next war.

(Yeah, I know I made some pretty lame posts in that gun thread, but I was kidding. I don't think I'm capable of intentionally inflicting bodily harm on another human being.)

[Eloriel]

1. I'm not one (never have been), but definitely want to say

Hats off and welcome to any and all recovering Republicans. I truly miss the days when there were scads of Republicans I could respect. Now there are only 2 or 3, and even those, only occasionally.

Also, LadyHawk, your admission explains a few things I'd noted previously in some of your posts. :evilgrin: Glad you're on our side now.

[Ladyhawk]

6. Hehe...this scares me a little bit. :)

"Also, LadyHawk, your admission explains a few things I'd noted previously in some of your posts. :evilgrin: Glad you're on our side now."

I won't ask for too much of an explanation of that...

Let's just say that--like others who have posted--I was brainwashed into being a wingnut. I was surrounded by fundamentalists and Republicans. It was only natural that I grew into it.

What I don't understand is why I grew out of it and no one else in my family did. Hmmmm...

[Eloriel]

10. Oh, it was just a more

"conservative" bent (and don't ask me for details 'cause I don't remember) than I'm used to here. No big deal.

Again: glad you're here. And ALL former Republicans.

[Ladyhawk]

20. My mind certainly is open to debate.

I'm sure that's true of anyone who left the sinking Republican ship.

Psst...I voted for Kucinich in the primary...

[RevCheesehead]

2. Glad you're here. Did you bring any friends with you?

Actually, I wanted to suggest that you visit Moveon.org.
You can find their ads about former Republicans who are voting for Kerry.


:

[morgan2]

3. before I passed the age of 18

I believed the bs my parents told me about the world. I think I voted in a mock election in my grade school for George HW Bush even.

[BMJ]

4. Yep. Me too.

I'm so ashamed of the bullsh*t I was taught to believe about politics when I was younger. I always thought Democrats were people who hated puppy dogs, baseball, and the American flag.

When I was 18 I took a class called, "Computational Logic and Fuzzy Data Analysis" which taught me how to think and problem-solve on my own. It was then that I realized I'm a Democrat. :)

[Ladyhawk]

7. Critical thinking is CRITICAL!!!!

As a fundamentalist, I was taught "reason" was an affront to God. Seriously! I was supposed to have "the mind of Christ."

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path."

That verse is still in my mind. It's from a Pauline epistle. I can't remember which one and I really don't care to look it up.

We were taught to hate humanism and its reliance on the feeble thoughts of man.

BTW, BMJ, don't feel too badly. You were heavily indoctrinated. I was, too. It's HARD to get over that kind of brainwashing. It also pits you against your own family. :( :( :(

[TNMOM]

24. Actually, I think that's a proverb - Proverbs 3:5-6....

whatever - I believed it, too. I was a big born-again right through the term of Bush I. I even went to College Republican events (ewww, I know) and a big post-debate rally for Bush * when he was at UCLA. I guess I drank the I-pulled-myself-up-by-bootstraps-so-can-everybody-else coolaid. I actually registered as a Republican when I became an America citizen. ... then about half way through college as a philosophy major, no less, I started thinking for myself.

I fully intended to vote for Bush I against Clinton in 92, but Pat Buchanan's hate-filled speech stopped me. I literally was undecided until I was in the voting booth. I voted for clinton in 92 and liberals/progressives ever since.

[strategery blunder]

5. Independent-turned-Dem

I guess I'm not a former republikkkan, but in 2000, I thought that both parties were morally bankrupt and the most corrupt institutions that God could muster.

Then came the selection, which caused me to throw lukewarm support to Gore. It took me less than two months, however, to see where shrub was taking this country, and I didn't like it. After 9/11, I was one of the rare 15% of 'murikans who DIDN'T rally behind jingoism.

[Point_n_click]

8. Former Reagan Brainwashee here ...

Yep, back in high school I was thrown under the wheels of the Great Communicator's Charisma Train. For a few years I could do nothing other than repeat the right wing talk show talking points like a trained parrot.

Then I got to thinking about how I felt on issues. I kept finding that my view on issues wasn't matching up with those talking points.

The scales fell from my eyes as I compared my fondness for the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and kept seeing those talking points not being in line with those documents.

I compared what the Republican Party was actually voting for in congress and the senate to what they were claiming to be doing for the country and found a mismatch.

I stopped voting Republican, began voting for candidates that stood more for what I felt was correct and compassionate, but maintained my registration as a Republican.

Then the onslaught of Whitewater, File-Gate, and the All-Mighty-Blowjob Impeachathon came along and I decided enough was enough. I changed my party affiliation to Democrat.

[shance]

11. Texas-ex (reagan repub) back atcha*

:)

[kwolf68]

9. Yep

This is me

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/08/09_once.html

I now find myself relating to, agreeing with and supporting Ron Wyden, Paul Wellstone, Dick Durbin, Mark Udall, John Kerry and even Bernie Sanders - all the while believing clowns like Tom DeLay, Don Young, Larry Craig, Helen Chenowith and Rush Limbaugh are a bunch of jack-booted psychopathic thugs.

Look who I named all the way back in 2001? Damn, I feel good about that.

[shance]

12. Terrific and insightful article Wolf.

Thanks so much for posting.

[Nimrod]

13. Not repub exactly, but

Definitely not a yellow dog democrat either. My current standing came about as a combination of Clinton's term and this one - Clinton to make a deep impression on me and the R's during both that time and this one to literally make me ashamed to be an American.

For the record, to any and all non-American nationals here, I'M SORRY! I SWEAR IT WASN'T MY IDEA!

[Gluttony]

14. Why choose a party?

Why not think for yourself? You don't need a label.

[mitchum]

16. Looking forward to that change in your profile

[Kimber Scott]

15. I was a Republican.

I was pretty apolitical for the most part. Voted for Reagan once. I actually got to be a driver at his economic summit in Williamsburg, VA when I was in the Army. I thought that was pretty special. I voted Perot once. (Whice I now consider a vote for Clinton.) Clinton once. After the Republicans took control of the Congress and all these "independent investigations" of the Clintons started popping up, I got mad and voted a straight Democratic ticket. I really didn't understand the different ideologies. I had never taken the time to figure it out. I voted for Gore - still a registered Republican. When Bush started talking about going into Iraq I decided it was time to figure out what the heck was going on. I learned about the differences between the party platforms and realized I wasn't a Republican after all. I am, and always have been a true liberal Democrat at heart. I had just checked the wrong box on the registration form! Anyway... I'm a card carrying Democrat now. It's official.

Thanks, Mr. Bush, for in figuring out who you are, I realized who I am! I KNOW what's happening now. I AM paying attention. And, I'll bet you there are a couple more people like me out here and maybe, even a couple more than that. It won't rain on Inauguration Day 2005 because we won't be inaugurating you again.

[recoveringrepublican]

17. I should just call myself Kimber Scott

Sounds just like me. I was very apolitical until Bush was selected (btw I did vote for Gore, but that was because I was pissed about McCain). I didn't really research anything, until 9-11. My son was 12 months old and I was freaked out by what kind of world he would be growing up in. I joined some on-line debate groups, and when I realized I couldn't back up my arguments, and that other republicans just seemed to spew hate and no solutions I REALLY evaluated how I felt on ALL issues. I started to notice Dean, he intrigued me to watch the debates, where I found out that we need a man like Kucinich running the country. lol I realized what a liberal I really was (and always was, just was too brainwashed to figure it out).

It's been a gradual process, with other reasons why I switched (smart liberal husband, working with far from lazy people in low-wage jobs, reading the New Testament again and realizing the Republicans must not read the same Bible I do), but mainly it was trying in vain to back up the shit Bush has done, knowing all the time that is was a bunch of Bullshit. I may be many things, but I try very hard not to be greedy, a liar or a hypocrite, and to support Bush and the republican party's platform is counter-productive to those goals.

[Ladyhawk]

21. I was mostly apolitical until Bush, too.

Post-9/11 I figured out I was no Republican. As for labels, that's one I'd want to avoid! Yuck!

[Zynx]

18. I was Republican leaning during the 1990s because I didn't trust Clinton.

Shrub turned me into a Democrat and a fairly partisan one at that.

[Dob Bole]

19. Carter fan-turned-Republican-turned WTF did I just do?

Been a Carter fan my whole life. Bush came along making the same references to faith, etc...so I voted for Bush. DOH!!!!

It was my first time voting. I'll never vote pubbie again!

[Ladyhawk]

22. Me either...if we actually get to cast votes that count!

I'm a little annoyed that I didn't wake up sooner, but it only became blatantly obvious to me after 9/11. I think it was the fawning media that clued me in.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

23. at 18, I registered Republican

because I blamed Johnson (wrongly) for Vietnam, and because my parents were GOP'ers.

Changed during the 1980 election, desperately did not want Reagan to win. Never looked back, Dem ever since. MKJ