Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Are Politics Genetic?

I've been staying away from the political threads because I didn't trust myself to be polite, but this is a topic near and dear to my heart.

I was raised in an EXTREMELY conservative family. My parents are fundamentalist Christians and the church I was raised in was a borderline cult (they advocated cutting ties with all family members who refused to join the church, homeschooling children to protect them from the evils of public/private schools, basically withdrawing completely from the community along with enforcing strict rules about conduct, clothing, etc. Members who didn't follow these guidelines were labled "backslid Christians" and ostracized until they complied or were excommunicated.)

Obviously, domestic social issues like abortion, gay rights, etc were the main issues driving my parents to vote. They also believe that America has some sort of God-given supremacy and are very pro-war, not just this war - any war.

They were very involved in local and national politics and we were involved from the time we were born. I remember being brought to protest outside abortion clinics and other various events. When I was seven, they sent me off to school every day wearing my 'Bush for President' button. We talked about politics incessantly, and they had no problem with scaring me into sharing their beliefs - at six or seven I watched graphic footage of a late-term abortion while they lectured about how democrats like killing babies and movies about "the gay agenda" where homosexuality was equated with pedophelia and my parents told me of all the horrible things that gays would want to do with me if they got a hold of me.

All of our family friends shared their beliefs and I was not exposed to any other views at all until high school.

In high school, I started reading newspapers, reading books written by politicians, and just simply talking to people who had other beliefs. At first I didn't want to hear any of it, convinced that I was right. But pretty quickly, I craved other viewpoints and started shifting my position on a lot of issues. It certainly wasn't dramatic - at 18, I registered republican and still considered myself very conservative. But at least I was open to other views.

My parents were adamantly opposed to me going to college (a woman's place in in the home; colleges are "dens of iniquity"; and besides, we all know the rapture is coming any day now, so why waste the time) but I begged and pleaded and cajoled until they finally signed the papers for me to attend a small, private, conservative, Christian college about an hour from home. The school's most active group was the College Republicans. There was no Young Democrats club. I got swept up in the College Republicans club my freshman year and spent more time in Columbus working with politicians or canvassing the state campaigning than I did on campus. After my sophomore year, I got an internship at the American Conservative Union and dropped out of school to stay on through the 2000 election. I not only voted for Bush, I worked on his campaign, organized events at the Republican National Committee, and attended an inaugural ball.

But the whole time this was going on, I was conflicted. Because while politically I was still working for conservative causes, personally my beliefs were shifting further and further to the left.

After inauguration, I left Washington and moved to North Carolina to finish my degree. And over the last four years, I've finally come to terms with the things *I* believe. I learned how to analyze topics and come up with my own response, rather than parroting what my parents told me as a child.

I certainly am not saying that someone who votes like their parents cannot think for themselves - on the contrary, I hope someday that I have children who think for themselves and then choose to vote like me. My case was an extreme one. And breaking away from my parents' grip was a long, hard process. Now I'm a registered Democrat who campaigned for Kerry, but I vote split ticket for whichever candidate I think is best.

And, I should probably note, that my family has basically discommunicated me. I hear from them a couple times per year and the conversation generally disintegrates into me begging to agree to disagree and them telling me I'm going to hell and working for evil. They think I've been brainwashed - I would argue that I *was* brainwashed and am finally thinking for myself.

So, no, I don't vote like my parents. And I don't think politics is genetic - but I think that the way a child is raised will have an impact on their political beliefs. They will either embrace them or rebel against them depending on a number of factors.

Annie (who is sorry this post wound up being so long, obviously she needed to vent...)

Wow, Annie. I would never speak badly about a person's family, but I have to admit that I'm very glad to know that you found a way to break free from what I see as a very intolerant way of seeing the world and now make decisions based on your own perceptions. You have a great inner strength that you should be very proud of.

As for myself, I vote the way my parents do, and I think it makes sense. Ironically, my mother and father are kind of the liberal black sheep in their respective families. Born and raised in small town Indiana, they both came from hard-line, conservative Republican stock. The only exception ever made by my grandmother was John F. Kennedy and that's because he was Catholic. Anyway, both my parents moved away from home and experienced the broader US, and now they are Democratic even though their brothers and sisters remain NRA card carrying Republicans.

Funnily enough, I don't necessarily think of myself as a pure Democrat, though. I tend to vote split ticket and base my decision on the merits of each individual, although usually my opinions tend to fall in line with those of Democratic candidates.

Lab, I don't know the percentage, but a very healthy portion of Americans are *not* registered Republicans or Democrats. You can call yourself a "Democrat" and still not be registered with the party. I personally avoid registering because I don't want my name and address on more lists that will result in bombardment by mudslinging junk mail.

Lynn

LabRat, I can't think of an instance when someone would have their political party changed for them -- that's something you do yourself, if you choose to do it at all. No one has to register with one party or the other. You only do that if you want to vote in the primary election. (The primary being the elections within the various parties to see who is going to represent them in the main election.) Oh, and as far as I know, you can also change your party affliation at any time -- at least here in Indiana, you can decide that morning which primary you want to vote in, and just request that party's ballot at the polling place. But you can only vote in one or the other -- not both.

I've actually only started voting in the primary since I've moved here to Indiana, and ironically enough, this last spring I voted in the Republican primary, even though I consider myself a Democrat. My county is predominantly Republican, to the point where the majority of races are uncontested -- the Democrats don't even run a candidate. Because of this, the Republican primary is often the only chance we get to impact an election. (And yes, this kind of mislabeling could be used for nefarious purposes, like trying to get the "worst" candidate on the ballot for the other side, but that's not the goal in my area.)

For example, if there are six Republicans running for three slots on the county council and I know three of them are reasonable, personable, open minded people, I can vote for them in the primary in hopes of voting out the three who are closed-minded, blatantly sexist, and shocking rude. (And yes, this is a real life situation -- we actually have a county councilman who, upon being told recently that the ongoing lack of pay raises was creating a hardship for county employees, responded, "What does it matter what they make? They all have husbands who should be supporting them anyway." )

Oh, and to answer the poll questions -- I vote like my parents, but I didn't find that out until I was an adult and determined my own belief system. Politics were rarely, if ever, discussed in my house when I was growing up. I had no idea who my parents voted for; if I'd ask, I'd be told that it was no one's business other than the person doing the voting. The only info I might get, if I pressed, was whether my parents were voting for the same candidate or not. (Usually yes, but not always.) It was only once I grew up and started getting interested in politics myself did I learn that my Dad is even more left-leaning than me. <g>

Kathy (who thought Annie's response was fascinating and who was ROTFL over Vicki and CC's long lost sisterhood. <g>)

I voted other.

My father was, I think, a labour supporter -- he hinted at that once or twice -- but he found himself living in a very conservative constituency for the longest time. In fact, it was only in the 1997 elections, when he was 67, that he finally managed to vote for someone who was actually elected! (That was the result of a combination of factors; he decided to vote tactically and the conservative vote got split. In other words, it was a local aberration that someone he could actually approve of politically was elected. Having said that, he was himself very tempted to vote for the conservative candidate because, while Dad didn't like his politicis, he was actually a very decent constituency politician. Dad admired the man.)

My mother was, I have been led to understand, from a family of conservative voters. I think her inclination was to vote conservative, too. But her inclination was also to ask my father how to vote, so... He always told her that she should vote as she saw fit; it wasn't up to him to decide for her.

In the end, I think the strongest message I got from my father wasn't how to vote but that I should vote.

Oh, and LabRat... Guess who my local MP is at the moment? Suffice to say, you don't approve of him!

Chris

Thanks for the answers, Lynn and Kathy.

Yes, that's what I thought. Because that kind of makes sense, you would think.

This was an article on how some voters had belatedly discovered in the past couple of weeks that their registration had been changed from one party to another, without them having been aware of it till then. I think many of them were students? I can't track down the article again or remember where it was. But it was seen as part of the dirty tricks campaigns doing the rounds - like the flyers and phone calls in black neighbourhoods trying to tell people it was illegal for them to vote in certain circumstances, like if they were behind on paying rent or had a traffic ticket. And I couldn't understand how someone from a particular party could change a registration.

Have to say I understand it even less now if this is party affiliated registrations and not general voting registrations! Or what the motivation would be and what it would gain anyone. Doesn't seem to make much sense really.

I'll try and find the article again as my memory is (as usual these days) quite hazy on the details.

LabRat

Labrat,

I cannot think of any benefit from surreptitiously changing a large number voters from one party to another without their knowledge.

The likelihood of human error (someone, somewhere, goofed big time) seems more reasonable to me than that someone hatched a devious plot to keep large numbers of people from voting in their party's primary.

(The only way I can see someone benefiting by preventing people from voting in their own party's primary is if a large number of people in the opposition party simulateously planned to change their own party affiliation. They could then infiltrate the opposition's primary, as it were, and all agree to vote for the biggest dufus they could, to assure he would lose in the general election. Seems pretty far-fetched.)

- Vicki

LabRat, you don't have to register for a political party when you register to vote. You just register to vote. Unless you *want* to be affiliated with a certain political party.

Then when it is time for primary elections (to determine which of your party's canidates will be up for the general election in November -- ex. initially running for President, the democratic party had several people running to defeat Bush -- Kerry, Edwards, Leiberman, Kucinich, Sharpton, Dean, Clark, and several others -- we chose Kerry to run against Bush), the only people who vote are people affiliated with a party. I am a democrat, so I vote in the democratic primaries. However, if I were to walk into the polling place on Primary Day and they ask me, "Democrat or Republican Ballot?" I can choose either, but I can only vote on one of the two party's ballots. A lot of people I know aren't registered as either party. They can still vote in the primaries, as long as they only vote on one ballot. I believe this varries from state to state, though. I know it is true in Ohio.

Okay, I am going to try to make a flow chart:

1. Register to vote. As long as you are 18 and a US citizan, then you are eligible. (there might be other restrictions I am not aware of)
2. (Vote in the primary election to narrow your chosen party's canidates down from many -> 1 per party.
3. That 1 canidate goes against the other party's 1 canidate (and any other independent canidates) for the general election -- and here you can vote for any canidate you want, regardless of party affiliation (ex. Had I wanted to, I could have voted for Bush in the election. Pam could have voted for Kerry -- the party you support doesn't control who you vote for.) 1 per party -> 1 winner.

Hope this helps!

- Laura
ps. I do not think politics are "genetic" -- I believe it is a matter of how you are raised and then how your exposure to the world changes these views -- a case of nurture triumphing over nautre.

My first name is Patricia and I have heard that my great grandmother tried to get my mom to call me "Tricia" after Richard Nixon's daughter, but my grandfather, whom I loved and respected utterly when he was alive, grouchily told his mother-in-law to shove off, they were dubbing me "Patty".

EEEEYCH!!! How horrible!! I grew up my first 18 years of life with "Patty" and no wonder I am emotionally disturbed now; Cowpatty, hamburger patty, Peppermint Patty, yuck yuck yuck!!

So when I started voting I THOUGHT I'd vote the way my parents voted. Then I learned about taxes, and found out the group that wants to use them the most was responsible for the huge cut in my paycheck. Twice during my military service I heard threats of inability to pay may paycheck because the military was being cut.
These things were extremely precise in turning me against the party in charge at the time.

Thus I now vote the way my wallet goes. Horribly selfish I know, but I'm too practical and logical to go along with any other party that lacks these qualities and insists on calling me "Patty".

TEEEEEEEEEJ

I'm a registered Independent. Most people ask why and I tell them because I don't back either party. I basically detest all politians (sp?). For so many of them it is the only career they have ever really had. They have no idea what it is like for the rest of us. Also it seems to me that it is more what is good for the party than what is good for the American people.

I tend to vote for who I think is the lesser of 2 evils. Years ago in Virginia I even voted for a communist just as a way to protest that they weren't giving us any real choice. It was for a Senate seat. The one man had held the seat for decades and the challenger was an idiot. So I voted for the communist since I knew he wouldn't win but figured if he got some votes maybe it would send a message.

My ideal ballot would have an extra pick on the ballot.

Example:

Bush

Kerry

None Of the Above

Then if None Of THe Above wins they have to pick new candidates. Just wishful thinking on my part. I think for all Senate and Congressional seats you get voted in for 6 years and after than you can't run again for 2 terms (12 years.) That way these polical machines couldn't be built up.

I guess it shows I feel that the majority of people in politics are crooks.

Meant to say part of my feelings for them being crooks is that I have seen where there is wide unemployement, no raises, all sorts of economic hardships for their constituents and yet they turned around and voted themselves substantial raises which come out of our tax dollars. Yet when they campaigned it was all about what they were going to do help. Yea they helped by voting themselves a raise while a lot of people in their districts hadn't had raise in a couple of years because of the poor economic conditions.

I've been voting since the early '70's and have learned that most politians are nothing more than wind bags. Promise anything but deliver on nothing.

Vicki,

The short answer is that the ruling party makes standing for election as difficult as possible for opposition parties. Opposition parties have accused the ruling party of not playing fair. I believe the term they used was "shifting goal posts". The ruling party, however, says that it's not their job to make elections easier for opposition parties. And, we are talking about a government that made chewing gum illegal because a person stuck gum between the doors of the undergound trains, and caused the doors to jam, disrupting public transport for a while.

If you want the long answer, I can go into detail as to how the ruling party makes things very difficult for opposition parties. But I'm not sure this is the right place for it. If you really are interested in a detailed explanation, email me.

Bear in mind that we are talking about Singapore here. The Nanny State, the Fine City. (No smoking, Fine: $500) The first ever WTO meeting was held in here chiefly because WTO delegates wouldn't have any problems with the anti-globalisation folks. Protests/demonstrations of all kinds are illegal here. Even peaceful ones. No public assembly without a police permit. You can imagine how "easy" it is to get one.

Come to think of it, we are a police state. I'm vaguely amused that Amnesty International is more concerned about the human rights in Singapore than the Singaporeans.

Well, I'm actively political mostly because of my Republican father. When I was a child I would actually discuss policy with him (welfare and the enivroment were my favorite topics).

My brothers are also fairly political and both lean moderate / conservative regarding economic and social issues like my father.

As for me... my stances on economic issues is pretty moderate but may change tilt from time to time. On social issues - true blue liberal. Always have been - even as a tyke - always will be.

I actually tell people I might have been born liberal. Although the exposure to Rush "Powers on Loan from God" Limbaugh at a young age might have something to do with it. :p

I had to say Other for a strange reason.

Like some others that have posted here, I vote like my parents but for different reasons.

They vote straight Republican ticket and can't understand why anyone would split their ticket.

What's really odd, is that some of their beliefs on domestic issues are really more toward the Democratic side of the fence, but they just can't bring themselves to vote for that party.

Elisabeth and I vote for who we think will do the best job, which, in our way of thinking is usually along Republican lines.

And sometimes we don't vote the same way, but usually on issues.

This last time, we both decided to vote for Jay Nixon, a Democrat. We were reading the list of candidates for Attorney General for Missouri and we both said "Yes! NO-CALL List!" (He is the one that really pushed for the No-Call list in MO)((A NO-Call list is where you can have your name put on a list of households that do not want to be called by tele-marketers.))

Sorry for rambiling on.

I don't vote yet, but if I voted, I think I'd vote like my parents. I'm not very much into politics, but from what I've learned so far about the topic, it seems like I agree with them.

I actually tend to agree in many topics with my parents, especially my father. Everyone says I'm my dad's girl Now, if it's coincidence of views or he's just brainwashed me, I don't know <G>

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

My parents are moderate Republicans, but we voted for the same person this time around. I'm a moderate liberal. I tend to look at all of the issues, not just one or two. I have voted for a Republican or two in the past, but mostly for local offices. I tend to gravitate towards candidates who are more centrist and not extreme either way. However, I think this is due to how I grew up, not genetics.

And yes, I do think we should have a none of the above. But that's why there are write-in spots.

I don't think politics are genetic, but environmental. I believe parents give their children the values that shape their lives and if those values are reinforced the children take them as their own.

As the military brat of a military brat of a military brat (and my kids are military brats, big suprise, right? ), the military being guinea pig for innovation (integrated units, fair housing requirements, etc.,) and having a family with so many members having served in combat zones, I've found that for generations my (military) family has tended to be a lot more accepting of others than the general public believes (or at least the press reports). And trust me, when the bullets are flying you will quickly come to realize what's important - and unless you're a total idiot you don't care if the person next to you is gay, black, Jewish, had 5 abortions, or whatever - you only hope they have your back.

Today, because my parents have taught me, I can read between the lines of hype and would never vote for a supremacist or bigoted agenda candidate. That's not what we've fought for. So between my parents teachings and my own experience, I've learned acceptance - but I don't think it's due to genetics; it was totally environmental. (Besides, my lawyer nephew positively idolizes Scalia--so what happened to him? No seriously, I wish I knew. )

Of course, this poll assumes that your parents both vote the same way. Since my mother always insists that she votes 'by secret ballot', it's hard to know who she votes for.

As for me... Well, I think it's safe to say that neither of my parents vote for the Marijuana Party. So I guess that means I vote differently from my parents

I had to choose "other." My parents don't vote anymore. I'm not sure whether it's out of laziness or apathy, but they seem to feel that their vote wouldn't make a difference anyway. They've mostly lived in Virginia and Maryland.

As for myself, I've always been fairly conservative. Every two years, I live, breathe, and eat politics, so I disappear mostly from this forum for long periods of time around election time. I'm a true political junkie who generally votes Republican, mostly because those candidates tend to be more conservative than their Democratic opponents.

If, for example, I had a choice between a Zell Miller and a Johnny Isakson, I'd choose Zell Miller because he's the more conservative candidate even though he's the Democrat. And when in doubt about two candidates, I'd go with party affiliation simply because the odds are best that that person more closely matches my philosophy.

My opinions tend to have been formed by my own experiences rather than having had them passed down to me, so in answer to the poll question, I'd say it's not genetic.

Anyone who reads Roger's post and mine can tell L&C transcends all boundaries. I for one am glad.

I vote like *one* of my parents <g>.

Nan