If You Were EVER a Republican...WHY? Part Two: What role did Carolina play in your leaving behind the GOP?

donbosco

donbosco

Inconceivable Member
Messages
4,061
I read often folks admitting to having once been a Republican...

Maybe it was when you first registered or later on or yesterday...Or maybe you actually never registered Republican but always voted that way or considered yourself one...

Why?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Part Two: What role did Carolina play in your leaving behind the GOP? Maybe it was when you were attending undergrad or professional school? Maybe it was reflecting back on things studied and learned during your matriculation? Maybe it was simply due to skills and ways of seeing cultivated at Carolina that finally came to fruition? Maybe by your judgment, Carolina had nothing to do with it?
 
Last edited:
I wasn’t a very political person the first time I voted, though generally aware of what was going on in the world. But very middle of the road.
I was for gay rights my whole life, and believed money put to public education was an investment in our future. But not a strong liberal lean otherwise.
Anyway, it was kind of a coin flip for me and I can’t remember why exactly I registered as republican but from then until 2004 I voted roughly 50/50.
Have been unaffiliated since 2004 and haven’t voted for a republican since. I don’t think I have changed much in my political beliefs since the early 90s except regarding healthcare, but the Republican Party doesn’t at all represent what I liked about them previously.
 
I have always been registered as unaffiliated but voted mostly Republican until 2016. Have been straight ticketed Democrat since 2020.

Main reasons I voted for the Republicans prior to 2020 were protection of the 2A and a distaste for a lot of the identity politics that the Democrats pushed. Also, I felt like GWB, Romney, McCain, etc were genuinely good people. Of course I felt the same about Obama. The GOP I voted for died when Trump was inaugurated. I don’t even recognize the party anymore.
 
I was a registered Dem for most of my life and went independent with the rise of the far left. Still haven’t voted for a pub, but find myself identifying with the very few moderate Rs left out there. Not enough to vote for one given that they would empower the radical right majority, but still.
 
I was raised in an insular, white Evangelical environment and had just turned 18 a few months before the first election in which I was eligible to vote. I wasn't particularly knowledgeable about politics and simply voted the way my parents did. My time at UNC introduced me to different people and perspectives and changed the way that I viewed the world. I still voted for a few Pubs at the local level here and there, but the rise of Trumpism in 2016 put a stop to that.
 
I lived in Ohio for 25 years. They require you to be registered as a party member to vote in a primary, so when you go to vote in a primary and they ask you which party, you become registered in that party until you change your registration (usually at the next primary if you change which primary you wish to vote on.)

I voted for multiple Republicans if I felt they were the better candidate. I voted for Rob Portman for Senate and Mike DeWine for Governor, mostly because the Democratic nominee was some slimy machine politician. But after Trump I vowed to never vote for another Republican unless they disavow Trump. In Ohio that was John Kasich. Portman was like Susan Collins, always expressing his concern about Trump, but then voting to support him.

I remain an unaffiliated voter but I’m not voting for a Republican anymore unless they are anti-Trump, which means I ain’t voting for many Republicans.
 
Last edited:
I think for a lot of folks, it’s just a matter of being born into it. Like religion. If your parents were R, there’s a strong possibility that those they associated with were also R. And so you were likely surrounded by adults whose political views were similar.

And particularly in rural areas, this extends to entire neighborhoods/towns/cities, so you were likely surrounded by like-minded people both in your family and in your community.
 
Many reasons I was a Pub are shared by others on this board. I grew up in a pretty conservative, evangelical household, so that was my tribe. As I started thinking more independently, several issues attracted me. I was attracted to fiscal conservatism (still am) and low taxes (not so much anymore). I also leaned a bit towards libertarianism. I thought Bush, McCain, Romney, Kemp, Ryan and a few others genuinely wanted to do what they felt was best for the country, and were good people. I also felt that way about Obama and, in retrospect, Clinton.

But damn, cracks REALLY started showing during the Obama years. I couldn't believe the hate and racism shown by the Pubs, and I thought the tea party got pretty extreme, probably born out of that hate. Also, as I started to read the Bible with fresh eyes, I realized that the typical republican positions were completely antithetical to what I understood as the teaching of Jesus and the prophets in the Book of Twelve. Then, finally, came Trump. Holy hell. This guy and his cult offend me on so many levels: intellectual, moral, spiritual...

OK. You asked why people used to be Pubs, but I couldn't help ranting about why I not one anymore!
 
Last edited:
EyeballKid said:
I think for a lot of folks, it’s just a matter of being born into it. Like religion. If your parents were R, there’s a strong possibility that those they associated with were also R. And so you were likely surrounded by adults whose political views were similar.

And particularly in rural areas, this extends to entire neighborhoods/towns/cities, so you were likely surrounded by like-minded people both in your family and in your community.
Click to expand...
In my family, mom was a dem and dad was a pub. I was influenced by my grandmother. During the 1960 election she and I constructed a campaign scrapbook of cartoons which I still have today. We watched the 1960 JFK/ Nixon debates back then which at 9yo I obviously did not have an appreciation for the issues, but based on the debates I saw I felt that JFK was a "good guy " and Nixon was not.

My grandmother took me to the 1960 Greensboro Woolworth sit in . She made me the liberal I am today :giggle: ... and my younger daughter carries her name
 
I was a Republican from 18 until Trump. Though I did not vote for Trump in 2016, I still considered myself a Republican. It was not until I saw pretty much every Pub, many who I admired, many who rightfully called Trump out for what he is -- totally roll over and cave to the cult. It was at that point, I knew the Republican party no longer exists. I am now Unaffiliated.

I was not raised in an overly religious or political family (though my parents are now hardcore Trump and Fox viewers in old age.) If I was shaped at all politically, it was because my parents started having kids around 20. Not unusual in late 60's.

I saw my father work his ass off, two full shifts a day. I remember as a young kid, my mother waking us up to pick him up from second job at midnight. Once we were in grade school, we were latchkey kids as my mother also started working. They were best friends with our neighbors and we played with their kids, as their mother kept an eye on us.

So I grew up seeing a very strong work ethic out of necessity. We started from nothing and slowly and methodically worked our way up into the middle class So I had no empathy or understanding of people not wanting to work or better themselves. I was acutely aware of those abusing the system. Mothers not being able to feed one child, but intentionally having more for more gov. incentives.

I disliked the hippie types that just wanted to get high and work at a record store, that's all the ambition they had. That was absolutely fine, their right and choice. But then when I saw these same people bitching and moaning about the income disparities, I thought it was shameful.

Of course I can add a lot more on old real Republucan values and policies, but this is what originally pushed me to the party. I can say that I have NEVER identified with the religious right. I have always been very moderate on social issues. It was fiscal issues and the inefficiencies and waste of gov. spending, and the consequences of fiscal tinkering that made me (no, make me) a Republican. But I am a never Trumper, and never any spineless cowardly Pubs that enable him.
 
Kraftyheel89 said:
I was a Republican from 18 until Trump. Though I did not vote for Trump in 2016, I still considered myself a Republican. It was not until I saw pretty much every Pub, many who I admired, many who rightfully called Trump out for what he is -- totally roll over and cave to the cult. It was at that point, I knew the Republican party no longer exists. I am now Unaffiliated.

I was not raised in an overly religious or political family (though my parents are now hardcore Trump and Fox viewers in old age.) If I was shaped at all politically, it was because my parents started having kids around 20. Not unusual in late 60's.

I saw my father work his ass off, two full shifts a day. I remember as a young kid, my mother waking us up to pick him up from second job at midnight. Once we were in grade school, we were latchkey kids as my mother also started working. They were best friends with our neighbors and we played with their kids, as their mother kept an eye on us.

So I grew up seeing a very strong work ethic out of necessity. We started from nothing and slowly and methodically worked our way up into the middle class So I had no empathy or understanding of people not wanting to work or better themselves. I was acutely aware of those abusing the system. Mothers not being able to feed one child, but intentionally having more for more gov. incentives.

I disliked the hippie types that just wanted to get high and work at a record store, that's all the ambition they had. That was absolutely fine, their right and choice. But then when I saw these same people bitching and moaning about the income disparities, I thought it was shameful.

Of course I can add a lot more on old real Republucan values and policies, but this is what originally pushed me to the party. I can say that I have NEVER identified with the religious right. I have always been very moderate on social issues. It was fiscal issues and the inefficiencies and waste of gov. spending, and the consequences of fiscal tinkering that made me (no, make me) a Republican. But I am a never Trumper, and never any spineless cowardly Pubs that enable him.
Click to expand...
If it's fiscal policy, how do you justify the Republicans' consistent dismal result with the economy? Their record by virtually any standard is far inferior to the Democrats.
 
Parents were country club/pro-business republicans (now MAGA I guess, we don’t really talk politics). I voted for McCain in ‘08 as a sophomore at UNC. Went to a Tea Party rally in Raleigh in 2009 or 2010 and was astounded at the vitriol and vindictiveness the attendees had toward Obama, who I had pretty quickly come to admire. I feel my overall politics haven’t really changed, but the Republican Party left me way behind, especially with regards to basic decency.
 
I was an evangelical Christian in HS and at UNC. Voted Republican. Then I went to graduate school (PhD in Neuroscience) and became a scientist/Professor. On that journey it opened my eyes to many international colleagues and travel. I talked to and became friends with many people not from here and came to see that other countries do some things differently and better than we do here (first and foremost universal healthcare). My faith softened to more mainstream and I actually share beliefs with Francis Collins who sees no conflict with faith and science. I stopped voting straight Pub and more mixed ballots. The last Pub I voted for President was John McCain. After the backlash to Obama Tea Party crap, I stopped voting Pub and been straight Dem since 2015. I’m currently registered Pub just so I can vote in primaries against any MAGA Trump endorsed candidate.
 
My voting history:
GHB
GHB
Dole
W
W
Obama
Obama
HRC
Biden
Harris

I considered myself a R until I was old enough and wise to recognize reality.

I don’t really know why I went right as a young man. Nothing stands out to me.
 
Last edited:
Burkian society norms: manners, societal, governmental norms and institutions

Law and order.

Freedom.

Limited Federal intervention.

American interests.

Belief in science, facts

Systematic reform, improvements in quality of life

All of the above are flipped and soiled daily by Trump and the MAGA group of thugs.
 
Bigs23 said:
My voting history:
GHB
GHB
Dole
W
W
Obama
Obama
HRC
Biden
Harris

Inconsidered myself a R until I was old enough and wise to recognize reality.

I don’t really know why I went right as a young man. Nothing stands out to me.
Click to expand...
A similar voting record for me.

Reagan
41
Clinton
Dole
W (sorry about that one)
McCain (write-in)
Obama (thought about Romney). Obama embraced being President in his second term and fought for every Americans. One of the few 2 term Presidents (since Ike?) that was peaking in popularity at the end of his last term.
HRC (never Trump)
Biden (never Trump)
Harris (never Trump)
 
finesse said:
If it's fiscal policy, how do you justify the Republicans' consistent dismal result with the economy? Their record by virtually any standard is far inferior to the Democrats.
Click to expand...
When I say fiscal policy I am mainly talking about the growth, bloat, and Inefficiencies of gov. spending. There are far too many programs that grow spending wise at alarming rates (public education being one) with worse and worse results every year. And yes, I am fully aware that Defense, SS, Medicare and Medicaid make uo 2/3 of all spending. There just never been ANY accountability, or results driven spending. The left's viewpoint is always that more spending is needed.

I am also well aware that the Right (now MAGA) has been just as irresponsible on the revenues/tax side.

I disagree that Dem policies have lead to better net or real GDP growth. You can't exactly give Biden credit for his economy when much of it was driven by a 2 Trillion handout, and then a second one. Anyone can have a strong economy if you just print trillions of dollars and pour it into the economy. There's this pesky thing called inflation that just crushes average and below average wage earners.

Also, the stock market a good long term gauge of economic prosperity, is actually fairly even between the two parties.

But we should let other Pubs chime in, if there are any more and you want to count MAGA, before we start debating issues.
 
ChileG said:
I wasn’t a very political person the first time I voted, though generally aware of what was going on in the world. But very middle of the road.
I was for gay rights my whole life, and believed money put to public education was an investment in our future. But not a strong liberal lean otherwise.
Anyway, it was kind of a coin flip for me and I can’t remember why exactly I registered as republican but from then until 2004 I voted roughly 50/50.
Have been unaffiliated since 2004 and haven’t voted for a republican since. I don’t think I have changed much in my political beliefs since the early 90s except regarding healthcare, but the Republican Party doesn’t at all represent what I liked about them previously.
Click to expand...

This tracks pretty closely with my own experience
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top