Reply #25: Evolution of political views

[sasha031]

In the late 1990s, several events occurred which he said changed his political leanings to a more liberal understanding. One was his mother's (a former educator) battle with Alzheimer's Disease which began a long, slow decline of her mental health. Schultz found it frustrating trying to get her the services that she needed. The other was that he met a psychiatric nurse named Wendy who ran a homeless shelter in Fargo.<13> He attributed much of his political change to her, and although he had criticized the homeless on his show, he said in his book that she helped to humanize them. To his surprise, he found that some of the people he had insulted were veterans, and many were unable to get the psychiatric or medical services that might help them. He says that was the moment he began to look at poverty differently.<14>
He became a Democrat in 2000 marking the formal turn in his politics from conservative to liberal. He went out to do radio promotions in rural North Dakota, and told reporters about how he met farmers who were suffering and hard-working people who were going hungry, even though Republicans said the economy was doing fine. (Vowell 2004) He began to hold benefits to raise money for people in the heartland who were going through tough times.<15> In addition, he began questioning some of the assertions of George W. Bush; although he supported several Republican candidates in the 2000 election, he was becoming critical of other Republicans. Schultz considered running for the Democratic-NPL party nomination for governor against incumbent Republican John Hoeven in 2004, but decided to continue his career in radio.
Not all of his views are considered liberal though. He is pro-life (but doesn't want Roe v Wade overturned), and against gay marriage (but is not pushing for any kind of legislation outlawing it).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Schultz