How are your parents politically?

[Oldiesfreak1854]

This is a rather difficult answer to just give in a poll.  Until about 10-15 years ago, most of my immediate family were Independents (or Democrats if they identified with any party).  They never liked politics much, but they almost always made sure to vote if possible.  My mom is generally pretty liberal in her politics (although she doesn't consider herself one), but she is an Independent and acknowledges that she leans more Democrat.  She worked for Dukakis in 1988, and after she was paralyzed in a car accident during the campaign, he actually visited her in the hospital.  However, she has always disliked Bill Clinton and voted Republican both times he ran.  (If I remember correctly, she may have also voted for George W. Bush in 2004, but I'm not sure).  She also voted for President Obama twice (the only person in my immediate family that I'm aware of who did.)  
I also live with my grandma and one aunt; my grandma generally was like my mom for much of her life (Democrat or Democrat-leaning Independent).  She voted for Jimmy Carter twice, as well as for Kennedy and Johnson.  (I believe she voted for Nixon twice, however.)  Her views have always been relatively conservative, but they have become more so since about 2000 or 2004.  She voted for Bush in 2004, McCain in 2008, and Romney in 2012, and she never liked Obama because she felt that he was too inexperienced to be president.  Nowadays, she would probably consider herself an Independent who leans Republican.  My aunt that I live with was a very liberal Democrat in her youth and even had some socialist tendencies.  But as she gained more life experience (and also due to learning more from me after I began to form my conservative Republican views), she has become more conservative.  Today, she would probably consider herself more of a conservative, and like my grandma, would consider herself a Republican-leaning Independent.  She voted for every Democratic presidential nominee from 1984 to 2000 (Mondale to Gore), but has voted for the Republican nominee every time from 2004 onward (Bush to Romney.)

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I don't know how to rate them on your scale, so I'm going to go with liberal/conservative (D).

I do know that they were Democrats.  Very mainstream 70s Democrats.  Anti-capital punishment, pro-socialized medicine, pro-union, and definitely sold on the Democrats.  I used to call them Mickey Mouse Democrats, in the sense that if Mickey Mouse were running for President, they'd vote for him, so long as there was a D next to his name.  Till I was at least 30 years old, I thought Ronald Reagan was a dirty word.  Nixon too.

I finally outgrew that, in my early 30s.  I've decided not to brainwash my child like that.  It's a horrid thing.  I never discuss politics around him, and when he starts asking questions, I'll be as objective as possible.  I respect most of what my parents did, and how they raised me, but to be so very bigoted toward one political part and against another is something I cannot abide.

I know exactly how you feel, angus.  My family always told me that "Democrats are for the poor and average Americans, and Republicans are for the rich," and although I'm a Republican, I still have trouble shaking off that stereotype (as much as I hate it since it makes my party look greedy, unkind, and uncaring.)  My fourth grade teacher explained this as being the main difference between Dems and the GOP as well.