"Are you now, or have you ever been a Republican? Answer the question!"
That all came to an end in June of 1992. I saw the rise of Bill Clinton, and was prepared to support him for President. I was somewhat uneasy, because he was clearly a smarmy operator and liar, but I thought that since he was in the same party, he was the best choice.
Then came the Sista Souljah speech. I remember thinking about how this was a transparent play for the centrist vote, and how nobody had ever heard of Sistah Souljah before, and that Bill Clinton was just abusing this woman to score political points. I expected to see a reaction in the press and editorial pages chiding Clinton for being so shallow and manipulative. Instead, I remember seeing opinion pieces about his brave stand against the NAACP and how wonderfully tough he was. Even after a week, people were only criticizing him in the context of how, although it was a shallow and cynical racial sell-out, it was a subtle master stroke of political genius.
At that point, I realized that there was no substance behind Bill Clinton, and that he would say anything to be elected. I further realized that the newspapers, editorial writers, and television commentators knew full well that this was so, but were going to say or do anything to make sure he was elected anyway. It was a stunning revelation to me, because I had been blindly believing such people all my life. I started to critically evaluate the candidates, began dismissing much of what I saw on TV or read in the newspapers, and wound up pulling the Republican lever for President George H. W. Bush that November, the first time I had voted for a Republican in my whole life.
And I never looked back.
I was born and raised in a Republican household. In 1968, I actually had the privilege to shake hands with President Richard Nixon while he was campaigning in Illinois. Shortly thereafter, I went to college and became confused for a few years (sound familiar?) I came back to my senses in 1973 and have never looked back. Somehow, facing the real world and the need to earn my own way brought me back to my roots. I’ve voted straight Republican ever since and will continue to until the day I die.
P.S. I still have my Mother’s campaign buttons from those days. My favorite is the “Nixon-Now more than ever” button.
I could not hold my nose long enough and drink the cool aid fast enough to become a Republican.
I am an Independent Christian Conservative that votes Republican when the right person is nominated.
I was in the Navy in the early ‘80’s and before the Pres. election in ‘83 I think. Our squadron had a meeting where a retired Chief was invited to speak. The Chief spoke about our duty to vote and choosing a strong leader which would support the military and do what is right for our nation. Right then I knew I had to vote for President Reagan. I was 19 and it was the first election I voted in and have been a Republican ever since, but I am now more a Conservative than Republican.
August 11, 1977.
Frankly, I did not know where this was going when I started this thread. But it has been clear, over the last 100 posts, that Ronald Reagan stands large as the reason many of us became Republicans and/or Conservatives.
This is something modern Republican leaders should take to heart. In as much as they are like Reagan, they will continue to command the respect and loyalty of vast numbers of Republicans and bring more into the fold. But when they compromise their positions and move toward the squishy middle they will lose us.
Not to make anybody feel old, but Ronald Reagan was President a long time ago. As a unifying force for the Party, he grows weaker with every passing year. To kids voting for the first time, he is a figure out of history books, not a cherished memory. We need leaders of today who can assume the mantle of Ronald Reagan, draw in new voters, and move our Party forward.
I was born into a conservative democrat family. I liked Reagan and he was the first president I voted for. I became a full-fledged conservative in the mid 80s when the homosexual lobby blamed Reagan for AIDS and the MSM never shot that assumption down. I became a Republican after clinton was elected as did all of my immediate family.
They are both unaffiliated right now, but neither of them like President Bush very much. My mother has no idea who to vote for in next year’s Presidential race, and my father kind of likes Biden, but can’t really explain why.
I’m currently registered as a Democrat, just because they are the “least corrupt” of the three-party system that thrives here in Waterbury; plus my in-laws are involved in party politics here, and they are all Democrats. Still, as far as I know, about 90% of the Dems here in Waterbury are pro-life.
I have no desire of ever running for any political office, so what party I am registered with doesn’t relly matter, in my opinion. I don’t donate any money to national or state campaigns or political parties, and only occasionally donate to acquaintances who are running for office at the municipal level.
I first realized that I was a Conservative/Republican during the Robert Bork hearings. I was 23 years old at the time and was struck by the grotesque unfairness of the whole proceeding. I was particularly shocked by the hypocrisy of my then Senator Ted Kennedy. For years and years the man had complained that people needed to forgive him for killing a woman at Chappaquiddick, but now here he was demanding to know why Robert Bork should be forgiven for an unenforceable clause in his house's deed, put there by previous owners years before he ever bought the house, that said the house could not be sold to Jews. That was quite offensive to me. I was also greatly offended by the rest of the Liberals who, at the time, were so proud of their unfairness and dishonesty and I reached the conclusion at that time that Liberalism not only held nothing for me but was morally, ethically and intellectually bankrupt.
But that did not quite seal the deal for me and Conservatism. What sealed it, for me, was when Ronald Reagan, after Judge Bork had been defeated, strode to the press room lectern and confidently announced that he was disappointed that Judge Bork had not been confirmed and that he felt it was now his duty to find someone who was - and he leaned in a little closer to the mike for emphasis - "equally unacceptable." I remember standing up and cheering. Here was a man who stood up for what he believed in. Here was a man who stood on principle, class and integrity. Here was a man who would stand up to the bullies and say "go ahead, make my day!" I knew at that very moment, I was a Conservative.
Ever since I got a chance to vote for AuH2O
I have to give thanks to Rush Limbaugh for crystalizing my political views. I always kinda sorta leaned conservative, I always liked Reagan, but I was one of those “I vote for the person, not the party,” kind of people. After listening to Rush, and watching his program, I realized that liberalism was inferior to conservatism.
Great post. It turns out that in my Sr year I had a Govt teacher who made me LOVE that class. It also happened that I was taking this class the year that the Gipper was running for pres. It all seemed to flow into eachother and made me pay attention to politics for the first time. My father was a rabid republican and my step father a union dem but he was pretty socially conservative. Reagan made me feel proud to be American and optimistic about the future. I’ve really never looked back.
I guess I’ve always been a conservative. But I think I signed up to be a Republican in my high schrool psychology class when we registered to vote our senior year.
The internet, Drudge, FR and access to a boatload of info started me on my way.
But not to being a Pubbie. I'm a conservative.
I have two words for the GOP: Bite me :)
Born into a family of die-hard D’s; went to college in Boston. Attended George McGovern’s campaign speech in Post Office Square in Beantown where he said about reinvigorating the economy “When I am elected, I will give every American $1,000 to stimulate us out of recession”.
As a college freshman, I hadn’t experienced a lightbulb going on before, but that caused me to think “he’s going to borrow to give us money, which we have to pay back with interest?
That was just downright stupid and the beginning of the end for any liberal economic (and other) beliefs.
I was born a Republican and have never voted for a DemoRAT. My first chance to vote was 1984 and I voted for Reagan. In 1976, I was a young teen and my older sister volunteered for the Carter campaign. She joined the Army the next year and has been a Republican ever since. She apologizes every time I remind her about the 1976 campaign.
I was in the 8th grade when Carter gave away the Panama Canal. We had to write a term paper about something related to current events. I blasted Carter for giving away the Panama Canal to the Marxist that was the leader of Panama at that time. I went to a private school in California so I received an A. I would have been expelled for that paper in a California public school. Still have the paper.
Reagan came along in my “formative years” of 12-20 and conservative principals were confirmed for me. I remember watching Peter Jennings’ news coverage during jr. high and high school and thinking what incredibly biased it was. I was truly a young Republican; I debated conservative principles in high school debate and argued with my public school teachers.
The first presidential election I could vote, I voted for GHW Bush. That administration taught me that Republican does not necessarily equal Conservative.
I saw the Light because of the great Ronald Reagan... registered with the Republican party sometime during his first term, and haven't looked back since.