Any Ex-Conservatives on here?

[tooAlive]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

 

[tooAlive]

None??

Any ex-liberals?

 

[TruthSeeker56]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

If you're searching for ex-conservatives, you'll need to find somebody who decided that LOGIC and FACTS were no longer necessary.

 

[Godboy]

The best thing about a young democrat, is one day he will grow up and be a republican.

 

[JoeB131]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

Why? You'd probably say, "I don't believe you".

My story- I voted for my first Republican President in 1980. I really like what Reagan had to say vs. the way Jimmy Carter always equivocated. Plus through the 1980's, I was associated with the military, and Reagan was damned good to the military.

1992, I became disillusioned with Bush Sr, the Gulf War and such, but Ross Perot was crazy and Clinton was kind of a sleeze. So I voted for Bush again. Clinton proved most of my misgivings about him were well-placed, so I voted for Dole even though Dole seemed to not know why he was running for president. (For instance, when he gave his valedictory speech on leaving the senate, and spoke for a couple hours of how he expanded government.)

Now, a couple reason why I stopped identifying with the conservatives.

To Paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the party, the party left me.

At some point, the GOP stopped being about small efficient government and just about hating government altogether.

It became about manipulating the religious loons to vote against their own economic interests to benefit the rich.

So I watched the middle class America that my parents enjoyed slowly slip away. The kicker was when my last boss fired me after I had run up some considerable medical bills, and when I pointed out that what he was doing was kind of unethical, he announced proudly, "Well, that's why I'm glad this isn't a union shop second guessing my decisions."

Now, personally, I think the notion of people becoming dependent on government is abhorent.

But when you chip away at the ability of the middle class to fend for itself, you create more government dependency...

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

They may be ‘ex-liberals’ but obviously voted to re-elect the president.

 

[tooAlive]

To Paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the party, the party left me.

At some point, the GOP stopped being about small efficient government and just about hating government altogether.

I completely respect your feelings and can sympathize with your disenchantment of the Republican party.

Do you still identify yourself with Republican/Conservative ideals or have you moved towards the Democrat/Liberal ideology?

 

[Oldguy]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

Why? You'd probably say, "I don't believe you".

My story- I voted for my first Republican President in 1980. I really like what Reagan had to say vs. the way Jimmy Carter always equivocated. Plus through the 1980's, I was associated with the military, and Reagan was damned good to the military.

1992, I became disillusioned with Bush Sr, the Gulf War and such, but Ross Perot was crazy and Clinton was kind of a sleeze. So I voted for Bush again. Clinton proved most of my misgivings about him were well-placed, so I voted for Dole even though Dole seemed to not know why he was running for president. (For instance, when he gave his valedictory speech on leaving the senate, and spoke for a couple hours of how he expanded government.)

Now, a couple reason why I stopped identifying with the conservatives.

To Paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the party, the party left me.

At some point, the GOP stopped being about small efficient government and just about hating government altogether.

It became about manipulating the religious loons to vote against their own economic interests to benefit the rich.

So I watched the middle class America that my parents enjoyed slowly slip away. The kicker was when my last boss fired me after I had run up some considerable medical bills, and when I pointed out that what he was doing was kind of unethical, he announced proudly, "Well, that's why I'm glad this isn't a union shop second guessing my decisions."

Now, personally, I think the notion of people becoming dependent on government is abhorent.

But when you chip away at the ability of the middle class to fend for itself, you create more government dependency...

Except for the fact that I was a very slow learner and voted Nixon, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Reagan, Bush, Bush, Dole and Bush the first time....what he said.

 

[JoeB131]

To Paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the party, the party left me.

At some point, the GOP stopped being about small efficient government and just about hating government altogether.

I completely respect your feelings and can sympathize with your disenchantment of the Republican party.

Do you still identify yourself with Republican/Conservative ideals or have you moved towards the Democrat/Liberal ideology?

I think that such labels are idiotic. I'm a pragmatist. I go with what works.

Now, here's the thing, I don't limit "what works" to just what we've done in the USA.

Take Health Care. Most of the rest of the world has some form of universal coverage. From single payer (Canada) to a Governmetn run system (The UK) to government subsidized and controlled private insurance (Germany).

We don't. We still don't, even with ObamaCare. We spend more, we have the worst results in terms of life expectency and infant mortality and other stats we ought to be embarrassed about.

Now conservatives will go on and on about the virtues of "the market" and "free enterprise", even though such lessons don't really apply here. A truly free market version would be people would be treated until they ran out of money and then allowed to die.

On the other hand, I would like to see more free market in education. I wouldn't mind seeing vouchers for people who think their kids might do better in a parochial or religious school (even though I personally detest religion) to get their kids out of failing public schools where the unions and bureaucracies don't care that much about results.

 

[Flopper]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

Why? You'd probably say, "I don't believe you".

My story- I voted for my first Republican President in 1980. I really like what Reagan had to say vs. the way Jimmy Carter always equivocated. Plus through the 1980's, I was associated with the military, and Reagan was damned good to the military.

1992, I became disillusioned with Bush Sr, the Gulf War and such, but Ross Perot was crazy and Clinton was kind of a sleeze. So I voted for Bush again. Clinton proved most of my misgivings about him were well-placed, so I voted for Dole even though Dole seemed to not know why he was running for president. (For instance, when he gave his valedictory speech on leaving the senate, and spoke for a couple hours of how he expanded government.)

Now, a couple reason why I stopped identifying with the conservatives.

To Paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the party, the party left me.

At some point, the GOP stopped being about small efficient government and just about hating government altogether.

It became about manipulating the religious loons to vote against their own economic interests to benefit the rich.

So I watched the middle class America that my parents enjoyed slowly slip away. The kicker was when my last boss fired me after I had run up some considerable medical bills, and when I pointed out that what he was doing was kind of unethical, he announced proudly, "Well, that's why I'm glad this isn't a union shop second guessing my decisions."

Now, personally, I think the notion of people becoming dependent on government is abhorent.

But when you chip away at the ability of the middle class to fend for itself, you create more government dependency...

Ditto.

 

[aaronleland]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

Have you seen the many posters like JakeStarkey say they voted GOP until Republicans went too far right? Have you seen the treatment Republicans like John McCain get from posters here when they don't vote lockstep with the GOP? They are called liars and RINOs. I predict the very same will happen in this topic, and you will do nothing to counter it. You know there are ex-Republicans on this board, but you have already decided they have been lying all along.

 

[bripat9643]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

There are only bogus ones. Rush calls them "seminar callers."

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

To Paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the party, the party left me.

At some point, the GOP stopped being about small efficient government and just about hating government altogether.

I completely respect your feelings and can sympathize with your disenchantment of the Republican party.

Do you still identify yourself with Republican/Conservative ideals or have you moved towards the Democrat/Liberal ideology?

I think that such labels are idiotic. I'm a pragmatist. I go with what works.

Now, here's the thing, I don't limit "what works" to just what we've done in the USA.

Take Health Care. Most of the rest of the world has some form of universal coverage. From single payer (Canada) to a Governmetn run system (The UK) to government subsidized and controlled private insurance (Germany).

We don't. We still don't, even with ObamaCare. We spend more, we have the worst results in terms of life expectency and infant mortality and other stats we ought to be embarrassed about.

Now conservatives will go on and on about the virtues of "the market" and "free enterprise", even though such lessons don't really apply here. A truly free market version would be people would be treated until they ran out of money and then allowed to die.

On the other hand, I would like to see more free market in education. I wouldn't mind seeing vouchers for people who think their kids might do better in a parochial or religious school (even though I personally detest religion) to get their kids out of failing public schools where the unions and bureaucracies don't care that much about results.

Agree with regard to the idiocy of labels and the need for a pragmatic approach, disagree with regard to the last paragraph.

The pragmatic approach to failing public schools is to find out why they’re failing and fix the problem, not allowing public schools to continue to fail, thus failing the students left behind.

Some of the best schools in the Nation are public schools, and those schools enjoy the financing and support of their local communities, which contributes to their success.

 

[bripat9643]

To Paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the party, the party left me.

At some point, the GOP stopped being about small efficient government and just about hating government altogether.

I completely respect your feelings and can sympathize with your disenchantment of the Republican party.

Do you still identify yourself with Republican/Conservative ideals or have you moved towards the Democrat/Liberal ideology?

Joe is an America hating commie. His claims to be a former conservative have no tangible support.

 

[aaronleland]

Have you seen the many posters like JakeStarkey say they voted GOP until Republicans went too far right? Have you seen the treatment Republicans like John McCain get from posters here when they don't vote lockstep with the GOP? They are called liars and RINOs. I predict the very same will happen in this topic, and you will do nothing to counter it. You know there are ex-Republicans on this board, but you have already decided they have been lying all along.

There are only bogus ones. Rush calls them "seminar callers."

Joe is an America hating commie. His claims to be a former conservative have no tangible support.

I wasn't surprised. Were you?

 

[4berry104]

I know a couple. I am neither liberal or conservative and I find the whole classification of political scales beyond idiotic. The ones I know are typically libertarians and it kind of morphed from there to opportunity for all . The reasons for the change were their negative reaction to social stances by conservatives and the war in iraq and things went on from there.

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

 

[auditor0007]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

I have voted Republican since 1984, until 2012. This was the first time I have voted Democrat. I would not consider myself a conservative in the sense that most do but rather a practical Republican. I suppose you would call me a RINO. Of course RINO's are the real Republicans, not the far right crazies who have taken over the party. I have not wrapped my arms around liberalism, but at this point, Democrats come closer to my thinking than the far right who have taken over and destroyed the Republican Party.

To your shock, I can guarantee you there are many more like me out there. They just don't tend to hang around these types of forums.

 

[Dubya]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

I was a conservative Republican until after Nixon/Ford.

 

[Article 15]

I personally know many ex-liberals who were avid Obama supporters until they saw the hard facts and truth regarding his administration.

But I've never seen any educated conservatives "open their eyes" and turn to liberalism.

Another example is economist Thomas Sowell who used to be a hard-core supporter of Marxism in his early years; even while studying under Milton Friedman. Today, he's as Right as can be.

So, are there any ex-conservatives on this board? I'd like to hear your story.

I'm a former moderate republican who never voted Dem in a national election until 2008 and I wouldn't piss on half the party today if they were on fire and holding a million dollar bill.

 

[Article 15]

The GOP is a disgrace.

I question the intelligence and moral make up of those who haven't woken up to how shitty the GOP has become.