Describe your grandparents politics

[Battista Minola 1616]

Paternal grandfather: former Christian Democrat, VERY engaged in local politics and very loyal to the party, which is how he has ended up in the Democratic Party which is kind of funny because he's apparently still against divorce and generally not socially liberal.

Paternal grandmother: not very interested in politics, she has kind of a very conservative worldview and seems to think that all politicians want to screw up the people; she has generally voted whatever my granddad was voting.

Maternal grandfather: I don't think he regularly voted when he was younger because he worked on cruise ships; currently he is pro-M5S - which my grandma hates - for I don't know what reason, but he is not terribly political.

Maternal grandmother: she voted Christian Democrats mainly because all the mean guys she had known when a girl were Communists. Later has flirted with the centre-left but then soured on Matteo Renzi and is now basically a Salvini shill who believes people voting for basically every other party traitors, although every one for different reasons.

[Brother Jonathan]

Maternal Grandparents: I always though of my grandfather as sort of emblematic of neoconservatism. Grew up pretty leftist but turned to the right as he grew up. It was mostly the 1960s and what he saw as the radicalism on the left that moved him to the right. He liked Kennedy, and Scoop Jackson (who he likes to contrast the current party with). Interestingly, I can generally tell what he is thinking by looking at whatever Norman Podhoretz is saying, because they pretty much always seem to be on the same page (though I doubt my grandfather has anything more than a passing knowledge of him). Even with Trump, he started out not caring much for him, but now he is pretty pro-Trump. So like Podhoretz, I suppose he is a "paleo-neoconservative". My grandmother isn't all that political, but she is pretty much a stereotypical "Yankee Republican" (it's still "the rebel flag" to her), right down to the reserved demeanor, which contrasts interestingly at times with my grandfather. Both are were major Charles Krauthammer fans. Gave me the first volume of Henry Kissinger's memoirs on my 12th birthday.

Paternal Grandparents: Didn't really know them, and my grandfather died pretty young, but by all accounts were pretty much working class conservatives. Someone served in the Vermont legislature at one point, I gather, on my grandmother's side.

[Astatine]

German granny (92): survived WW II, the ideal picture of an ultimate centrist. She is kinda progressive in terms of social issues (pro same-sex marriage, supports euthanasia, abortion rights) but with limits and voted for either CDU, SPD or FDP her whole life (2005: SPD, 2009 & 2013: CDU, 2017: FDP). Never missed an election in her whole lifetime.

Georgian granny (87): totally typical Soviet conservatism paired with blatant racism. Anti-Putin due to Georgian roots, but totally hateful towards blacks (she called them the n-word just today and said she wouldn't accept me as grandson if I were black... luckily I am just gay which she doesn't know), homophobic and anti-immigration, even sexist. Voted CDU due to loyalty to Helmut Kohl, but hates Merkel now "because she let all the refugees in". After having lived here for 20 years, her German is barely enough to even do groceries.

German granddad (died 1990): dk, probably conservative

Georgian granddad (died 2006): he was ultranationalist, he even fought for the Georgian nationalist Sviadists in the civil war. Racist af, my Mum told me he sometimes left buses when Blacks entered them.

I am really ashamed when I hear my Georgian relatives talk about race issues. Especially since it comes from people who never bothered to learn the German language and live from social care but never gave 1 cent to the German state. It often ends up in yelling at each other (#easterneuropeanthings).

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Only know Dads side

Grandma: ardent New Deal Democrat
Grandpa: Midwestern conservative GOP, served under Eisenhower in WW2

[Kleine Scheiße]

Paternal grandfather: never met. Highly active and quite influential for a short time within the local party, he was a Baltimore city title attorney who studied, worked, and socialized closely with a number of individuals who went on to serve in higher elective office. Ran for House of Delegates once, heart wasn’t in it; came close, lost, gave up. Center-right fiscally, right-wing socially. “Kill the bastards”-minded Naval veteran who went Reagan Dem-mode at some point but never became a Republican, as far as I’m aware. Partisanship was all team sport to him. Big HP, was once stopped only by miracle from murdering my paternal grandmother with an axe on the front porch. Had he not died he would have gone Bush, Clinton, Bush, Bush, McCain, Romney, Trump, Biden.

Paternal grandmother: died late 2013. Voted almost all of the time, including local elections, for the most part. Only ever voted for two Republicans — once for Eisenhower, and a few times for Sen. Charles Matthias. Beyond that, staunch blue-no-matter-who. Loved Elizabeth Warren, big Hillary fan. Glad she didn’t have to see this current period of politics. Might have voted Warren or Biden in 2020. Used to describe herself as a federalist and a Christian democrat.

Maternal grandmother: never met. Will probably never know.

Maternal grandfather: never met. From family stories, lots of Third Reich nostalgia. Conservative populist with a friendly face. Ancestral D, probably; poor white boy from  Hannibal, Missouri. Will probably never know much more.

[Catholics vs. Convicts]

Paternal grandparents (1930-1990; 1930-1997): I don’t know much about their politics, other than they probably voted for Kennedy in 1960, and may have voted for Goldwater in 1964. They were Lithuanian-Americans who moved from Chicago to the Chicago suburbs in the early 60s. That’s probably when they shifted from Democratic to Republican. I doubt they were very political though.

Maternal grandparents (1936-2015; 1937-2012): As Eastern European-American Catholics growing up in Chicago, I KNOW they were Democrats through Kennedy and LBJ administrators. They switched to Nixon in 1968, and were loyal Republicans for the rest of their lives. My mom is pretty sure they would not have voted for trump, I hope so.

[Ferguson97]

Mom's mom: Voted for the winner in every election since 1968. Dislikes Trump. Supports non-violent protests. Unsure about the confederate statues. Supported by sister when she came out as a lesbian. Largely apolitical. Likely abstaining in 2020.

Mom's stepdad: Very apolitical. Thinks they're all crooks. Doesn't vote. Moderately culturally conservative or libertarian leaning (personally conservative but thinks people should be allowed to live their lives).

Mom's dad: No clue.

Mom's stepmom: Moderate. Anti-Trump.

Dad's dad: No clue, he died in 2004.

Dad's mom: No clue, she died in 2012.