Are you Republican or Democrat? Why or why not?

I’m an independent. I go by the candidate, not the party.

I’m liberal on social issues, so I lean toward the left. Most other issues I don’t give a rat’s ass about.

I like this quote from my favorite TV show:

“Whether it’s the Democrat who pretends he likes you, or the Republican who hates you and lets you know it, once they’re in office they’re not gonna do a goddamn thing. So I say, may the best self serving son of a bitch win.”

Cynical, yes, but we are talking about politics here.

For the most part, I associate myself with the Green Party. I wouldn’t join a party since that seems too binding. I’m not even old enough anyway. I am an environmentalist and tend to be liberal. There are a few topics that I wish I knew more about so I could form more of an opinion on, but that’s where I think I am.
Good luck finding a Republican here.

Same as @Adirondackwannabe. Not that I feel anyone with political ambitions gives a wet fart about me or anyone like me, but I figure if I don’t vote, I have absolutely no right to complain when things don’t go well.

GA to @livelaughlove21 too :D

Registered Democrat because I want to vote in the Democratic primary; the Democratic party comes closest to my political views, but it’s still only a partial match. Although most political tests I’ve taken label me a centrist.

Independent technically, but heavily left leaning. Green is closest to my views, but I tend to vote democratic in the larger races and sadly my current state will probably never have a Green candidate for a local office.

Independent because I want to look open minded to people on the Internet. But in reality I vote straight ticket for the democrats.

Except in 2000 when I voted for Nader.

“If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.”
—Thomas Jefferson

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”
—John Adams

I do not belong to any political party. I see no reason to formally associate myself with groups that do not represent me, nor to take on labels that do not accurately describe me. I would rather have views about individual issues than let myself be described by a political platform of someone else’s designing. It doesn’t stop me from voting for whomever I think is the best candidate. And since I live in an open primary state, it doesn’t even stop me from voting in the primaries. I’ve voted under many different party lines depending on who I thought was the best candidate for the specific office, and I don’t plan on changing that pattern any time soon.

I am Anti-Republican, so I suppose that that makes me a Democrat by default because the Republicans have no viable opposition.

Sure, the Democrats are a disorganized bunch of fools, but I cannot support a racist, homophobic party who believes that “religious freedom” means worshiping Jesus in the manner of your choosing, who believes that 10.8% is less than 7.9%, and who keeps screaming about smaller government while pressing to have legislators regulate gynecologist’s offices and wedding altars. In fact, I will do everything I legally can to fight such a party.

That doesn’t even count the credibility gap between the parties. Democrats are twice as likely to tell the truth, and generally leave their lies at half-truths rather than full-on bullshit.

Most of my life I thought I was a moderate Republican (mostly for family tranquility), but I could just as easily have been a moderate Democrat. But during the last twenty years, the Republican party I knew disappeared and was replaced by a bunch of idiots.

I can’t identify with either party anymore because they’re all a bunch of puppets with strings being pulled by corporations.

@bossob There are no Moderate Republicans any more; unless you’re a radical extremist, they kick you out of the party, just like they did with Colin Powell.

@SavoirFaire I’m a great admirer of my fellow VIrginian, Thomas Jefferson. He was a brilliant man well ahead of his times. But he was also vacillating somewhere between deism and full-blown atheism, so his forswearing a trip to a “heaven” he clearly didn’t believe existed is not all that impressive. And as smart as he and Washington, Adams and other Founders who railed against political parties may have been; the fact is once politics is engaged, once you establish a democracy rather than some other form of government like monarchy, political parties are sure to emerge.

There is a fair amount I dislike about the current policy agenda the Democratic Party is advancing; but while Democrats are slowly improving, the Republican party is more and more resembling a fascist/corporatist movement like the one Mussolini championed in Italy in the early 20th century. There is no way that, facing that fact, I would declare myself independent to sound cool on the Internet, or be like Thomas Jefferson who faced no such threat.

I usually stay out of the political threads, and this answer could easily get me in trouble, but I’m an Anarchist.

@AshLeigh You must be very happy. Because that’s what the two parties are currently giving us.

@ETpro, I’m not very up to date on what’s going on at this time, so I’m just going to say that I haven’t seen it going that way.

@AshLeigh OK, you did venture into this thread and post, fearful as you may have been. If you have no idea what’s going on, on what basis do you form ANY opinion of how it ought to change?

@ETpro, new things happen every day. All that I meant was that if anything has happened in the last few days that might make you think that, I haven’t seen it. I didn’t see anything on the horizon that looked like it could be it.
This is why I usually stay out of these threads. I’ll kindly leave now.

Registered Democrat because I want to vote in the Democratic primary; the Democratic party comes closest to my political views That’s me, but it hasn’t stopped me from voting for a few Republicans and Independents.

@AshLeigh If you’re out of the thread, I’ll not waste words. I trust that those who actually do pay attention to what’s going on know what I’m talking about.

Not exactly gone. Just choosing not to continue the conversation.

@AshLeigh Then there’s still no point conversing with myself. I’ll be happy to discuss it with you if you wish.

I’m female.
I’m financially self supporting.
I’m college educated.
I’m in a same sex relationship.
I believe I have the right to make decisions about my own body and medical care.
(I could go on and on. And on. And on.)
So I’m a Democrat.

Neither, because I’m left of both.

I’m a liberal Republican.
I’m Christian but don’t attend church.
I’m female and head of my household.
I have worked since age 12 to rise above poverty.
I believe we should all pay our bills no matter what it takes to do so.
I don’t believe it’s the governments job to support me in any way.
I believe sometimes America has to defend herself from her enemies with lethal force.
I believe SSM should be legalized as it’s a personal right.
I believe that Americans should be free to worship (or not) as they please as long as they hurt no one else in the process.
I believe abortion is murder, but that legally women should have control over their bodies.
Etc…

I am a registered Republican. I spent most of my younger years considering myself independent and then a decade as a registered Libertarian. I always voted for the person I thought best for the job and eventually realized it was always the Republican. There has never been a candidate I agree with 100% but on the issues most important to me, the republicans come much closer than anyone else.

I believe in limited government, personal freedom, personal property rights, and individual responsibility. I don’t think government has any role in social engineering. I believe that lawyers are the scourge of mankind but because I also believe in the rule of law, they are a neccessary evil. I’m not religious but I believe in religious freedom. I believe in States Rights because government works better when it is more local.

I could go on but simply put, the Republicans espouse the ideals I believe in more consistently than anyone else. I’m proud to be conservative.

@Jaxk I voted for Bill back in the day, but like you, it seems like the Republicans have always come closest to my personal feelings.

One thing that I think causes so many misunderstandings is that Dems seem to believe Reps don’t care about anyone else, and nothing could be further from the truth. I just don’t want to give a man a fish, I want to teach him to fish, so he can be independent.

@KNOWITALL

I would only disagree on the point that it is a misunderstanding. The Dems don’t want independence, they prefer dependence. Haven’t you seen “Life of Julia”? You need government support to survive. :->

@Jaxk I haven’t, but I’ll put that on my to-do list.

Hey, one more question, are you one of those Republican millionaires I keep hearing about? Just curious because I don’t know ANY but apparently the entire party is full of them.

I personally have tried my best to support my husband through illness over the last couple of years, pay off his medical bills and work at least 40 hours a week to do so with NO food stamps or anything else to help, it’s been tough, to the point we scrambled eggs and toast for dinner. But apparently I’m still a rich jackass Republican…lol

@KNOWITALL

I was, though not anymore. I still know a few but don’t get to thier parties anymore. A few democrats as well but I never did get invited to thier parties. Woe is me. At this point in time, I’m not a rich jackass, just a jackass. But hey, I’ve learned to fish and the government let’s me keep some of the entrails, so I’ll survive. What’s really surprising is that I don’t even know what a foodstamp looks like but I hear they’re quite popular these days.

@Jaxk Ahhh, lost it in the collapse that was all Bush’s fault did ya?! :)

Foodstamps are loaded onto debit-like cards now, just fyi. And you can even get a Papa Murphy’s pizza on them, whodhavethunkit?!

My Democrat brother-in-law is a hypochondriac who lives off of the government but still finds a way to fight through the pain to go to bars and hunt (he did not qualify for disability though.). Oh and his girlfriend and he both live in my mother-in-law’s rental for free, and since they’re not married, they get food stamps x4 (they each have one child), lots of tax money back every year, too, it’s a sweet deal really. I think as long as you don’t get married, you can keep bilking the state until the end of time.

Needless to say, we’re not close and his own daughter hates him. She said all she wants is to grow up, get out and get a job so she can be the opposite of her dad.

@KNOWITALL

She sounds like a Republican.

@Jaxk I know, I’m sooooooo proud of her, and I didn’t have to say anything, she learned the hard way.

@KNOWITALL

Life is a hard way to learn but learning makes it better.

@Jaxk Yeah, hearing everyone talk about what a loser your dad is has been very tough on her, and seeing how he keeps them in poverty through his own psychosis, is very sad. We can’t even give her money without him taking it from her for beer or pills or anything. :(

@KNOWITALL

My dad was no into drugs or alcohol but he was a gambler. Whether we ate or not was dependent on his luck at the tables. Unfortunately, he was not good. Fortunately I never had to worry about him taking my money but unfortunately, I never had any to take. Nontheless, it made me feel the same as your neice, get out and don’t depend on handouts. It’s not always easy but it’s always better.

@Jaxk Same here actually, not a gambler, but mom was a hippy so drugs and alchohol played a big part of my childhood, which was rather unstable. So I grew up wanting to take care of everything (controlling) myself, relying on no one for my wellbeing or full stomach. My dad was a rich Democrat who didn’t give a crap if I lived or died, just sat in his palace hoping to be left alone to count his money.

Thanks, this has been interesting. Apparently Republicans are sometimes created by their environment, and not just plain evil…lol
PM anytime, I enjoyed talking without getting bashed for once.

@KNOWITALL

Sorry but it is an established fact that Republicans are evil, wicked, mean and bad and nasty. Any evidence to the contrary is simply not believeable. :-)

I always enjoy comparing my childhood to my wife’s. She grew up in a ‘Leave it to Beaver’ household. Somehow, she also became consevative. Go figure.

@Jaxk I’ve said before that a lot of Democrats I know are nice people but seem to be idealists, wanting us all to work together to feed the poor, end war and live in eternal harmony, which is an ideal that I think we can all strive for without involving the government. Nor do I think it benefits us as a people to give people help for decades.

My mom is a Democrat and she is on disability, but she works full time and just moved out of government housing this weekend. She is trying to get off of all government dependence even though she actually has disabling issues. That is the kind of Democrat I respect and wish we had more of.

@KNOWITALL

We may have reached a point of disagreement here. The Democratic utopia of the Borg Collective is not a vision I share. And eternal harmony would bore me to tears. Life wouldn’t be fun if it was too easy.

@Jaxk I actually meant that in the John Lennon sense, no more hunger, homelessness, etc…which is pretty much something most human would like to see go away forever.

The Borg Collective is not my dream either, I value independent thought too much.

@ETpro Oh, come on. I don’t believe in Heaven either, but that bit of the Jefferson quote has very little to do with the overall sentiment. Will you be complaining about the minor grammatical error in Adams’ quote next? The point is just that political parties—inevitable or not—are bad for the country and not worth joining. That we cannot stop them from emerging doesn’t mean that I have to join one.

You don’t have to be a Democrat to vote for a Democrat, and you don’t have to be a Republican to vote for a Republican. At best, what you have given are reasons to vote Democratic. You have given me no reason to register with the party or affix myself with a label I do not accept. So thanks, but no thanks. I reject the “with us or against us” mentality implicit in your response.

I also find it laughable that you think this is about sounding cool on the internet. Are you really unable to imagine any other reason that someone might not join a political party than so they could someday talk about it online? My father isn’t a member of any political party either, nor has he ever been. You think he made that choice in order to look cool on the internet? If so, he must have had incredible foresight.

Ultimately, all you seem to have accomplished here is cementing the Democrats’ reputation of elitism. If you really think that sneering at me and bullying a teenage girl are good strategies, it’s no wonder that the party you came to defend is a floundering mess. It’s particularly ironic given that you are the one who clearly doesn’t know what anarchy is. Anarchy ≠ chaos. It means lack of government, not lack of order. No thoughtful anarchist sees the current troubles facing the US as their favored outcome. Nice straw man, though. Very intellectually respectable of you.

@KNOWITALL

OK, I can buy into that.

I guess I’m independent or something, but I lean more to the left.
Like whoever I think would be better, I would vote for them. I don’t care about the party they’re associated with. Most of the time I like the democratic candidate though because they just happen to be the better candidate in my opinion.

Democrat.

Because societies that emphasize solidarity are stronger and more successful in the long run.

I’m an independent who tends to support Republicans on the local level, but who tends to support Democrats on the state/national level. I’m actually a small government person, but I can do without the dogma of Ayn Randism or right wing extremism.

@SavoirFaire I’m sorry my reply seems to have upset you. I did not intend to bully anyone, nor do I think that I did. In fact, @AshLeigh PM’d me after that exchange to discuss our exchange further, and was quite cordial.

I probably did not give the post adequate time. It was very late and I was very tired when posting. So I did not go into reasons one might want to register for a party. If we can both agree that parties are currently an inevitable part of democratic forms of government, then it seems to me that being in the game allows you more ability to control its outcome in a favorable way than not being in.

@ETpro I was not upset. I was, however, surprised at how incredibly shallow of a response you gave. What does not surprise me is that @AshLeigh was cordial in your PM exchange. The question is whether or not you were, as that would be very much at odds with how you treated her here.

In any case, I don’t see how joining a party gives one any extra power. The major parties do not care at all about their rank-and-file members qua individuals. They care only about how they act as a herd. And as I have already mentioned, mine is an open primary state. I can vote in a party’s primary regardless of whether or not I am registered in that party. As such, I still have the ability to influence outcome in that regard.

Even if it did give me some modicum of extra power, though, I would not find it worthwhile to join up. Joining the party adds to its legitimacy, and I have no interest in doing such a thing. Nor do I see how the inevitability of parties changes the situation. Many things are inevitable, but that does not make them good. If I believe that parties are not good for the country, then the reasonable thing for me to do is not join one.

Actually, I said that I would listen if he wanted to explain. I’m never cordial.

OK @SavoirFaire You’re one person and an independent. Go out and change your nation as you think it should change all by yourself. No organizing. That’s forming a party. Get back to me on what a cakewalk it was as soon as you are done.

@AshLeigh What’s not cordial about that? You didn’t call me a bully, or tell me my answers were shallow. Seems quite cordial in comparison.

Not citizen of USA, cannot vote, most American friends Republicans, say Democrats too radical left wing.