Party switchers of Atlas: Why did you switch parties?

[West_Midlander]

Also, when is the last time you voted for your old party? Do you support anyone in your old party anymore?

[courts]

Do you support anyone in your old party anymore?

a few democrats. like tim ryan

[Goldwater]

I didn't technically switch parties, but I essentially went from a Republican-leanig independent to a Democratic-leaning independent. Part of that was shifting to left on some issues, most notably healthcare, but a bigger factor is how the Republican Party has acted over the past 6 years. Basically, I'm like a Bush-era neocon who is becoming increasingly alienated by the post-Trump Republican Party.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Switched from a D to an S avatar after the 2016 election (after some zigzagging during the primary cycle) when I realized just how worthless Democrats are and decided that the socialist label was well worth standing by.

[Politician]

The Democratic Party turning increasingly #woke.

[Mr. Smith]

I got tired of their utter lack of tactical or strategical resolve to accomplish anything.

[It’s so Joever]

It’s always more fun being on the winning team.

[TPIG]

I switched from blue to green in the Summer of 2020 as the then-president was threatening to use the military against BLM protesters and was clearly setting the stage to deny any election loss as "rigged". Have not regretted the choice.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

Switched from a D to an S avatar after the 2016 election (after some zigzagging during the primary cycle) when I realized just how worthless Democrats are and decided that the socialist label was well worth standing by.

Basically this, albeit sometime in 2018-2019 iirc.

[MarkD]

The year when I first started getting interested in politics was 1988, and at the time, I behaved, voted, and thought like an independent. The following year I joined the Republican Party, because I thought that, all things considered about my political views, I would be a pretty good fit in their party; I recognized that I had many more conservative political views than liberal views. George F. Will's book, "The New Season," was pretty influential on my decision to join the party. "Conservatism is the politics of prudence, which begins with acceptance of the fact that, more often than not, and to a degree that his humbling to mere human beings, the inertia of history and society severely limits both the pace and degree of change that human willfulness can bring about. Or, as a wise man once said, in a battle between you and the world, bet on the world," was one unforgettable thing Will wrote in that book. I recognized that was a very good description of how I saw the world too.

I was a Republican throughout the 1990's, until I made a decision, in December 2002, that I didn't want to vote ever again for the rest of my life, or to participate with any financial contributions, or to do any lobbying of politicians. What prompted that decision was a two-year delayed reaction to the Bush v. Gore decision. More specifically, I saw a letter in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by a guy who was bemoaning the concept that the Republicans were going to appoint originalists to the SCOTUS, and who would want that (the letter said)? When I thought about that letter but compared it to what the "conservative" Justices did in Bush v. Gore, I realized that the Republicans have not actually appointed any originalists (successfully) to the Court. I realized, belatedly, that I could not trust ANY Supreme Court Justices to interpret the Constitution objectively and correctly, and that the Republican appointees were absolutely no better than the Democratic appointees. Those realizations filled me with a strong sense of despair, pessimism, and resignation. So after about 13.5 years, I went from being a Republican to being a non-voter.

As of 2016, I decided that I was ready to return to the voting booth - because I have an agenda: to adopt a constitutional amendment that rewrites the 14th Amendment (see my signature) - but I also decided that I'll be an independent again, like I started out in 1988.

[TransfemmeGoreVidal]

I've always been a Democrat but I will say that I used to be more willing to vote for an occasional Rhode Island Republican like Lincoln Chafee but now I absolutely refuse to vote for anybody with an R after their name on principle. I've also grown somewhat more dejected from the Democrats in recent years as I've moved somewhat left but I still remain a registered one as I believe I can have more influence that way in terms of voting in primaries and getting involved in local party committees (the latter I plan to do when I have more time) then I would as an independent.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I have become far more partisan over the past two years due to the summer of 2020 due to:

1. The Summer 2020 and The Rapid Deterioration of Portland since then

2. The non stop gaslighting the liberal press has done about any issue conservatives bring up despite them being real issues

3. Biden being a far bigger disaster than I thought he would be

[Canis]

I became a Green av in March 2020 when Bernie dropped out but stayed a registered D irl just to express my then minor frustration with the Democratic party.

Two weeks ago though I changed my registration officially from Democrat to No Party Preference. I've been wanting to do this since the end of January of 2022 when the California Democratic Party received a huge amount of money from health insurance companies and then killed AB1400 a bill that would have brought Single Payer to California.

Gavin's own health care for all commission he set up to see if a single-payer system would be feasible at the state level showed not only it was feasible but much much more cost-effective than our current system. Gavin purposefully announced his medi-cal expansion the week AB1400 cleared its last committee to suck the air out of the winds of momentum for AB1400 and dodged questions about it in the press. Me and the activists in my area had to arrange multiple meetings with our Democrat state rep who initially agreed with us and said he would support the bill then emailed us a week out saying he was undecided. We had another meeting with him the day before the vote was supposed to happen where he left saying he was still undecided then that night he emailed us saying he would vote yes on the bill. The next day I and my friends listened eagerly to the state assembly and then the bill was pulled.

At that moment I realized the Democratic party just like the GOP chooses its Donors over its constituents and I was disgusted and wanted to leave. I was a delegate at the state party convention so I stayed a registered democrat until one morning two weeks ago I decided enough was enough and officially switched my registration.

I will still vote democrat in every DvR race this year (besides maybe insurance commissioner where I might abstain) and I prefer democrats to republicans but I feel betrayed and abused by the party. Democrats can win me back and I might switch back next year to vote for any friends I have who run to be delegates but Im choosing not to associate with the party as it is. AB1400 isn't the only reason I'm switching but it was the main driving factor. I cannot be a member of a party that chooses its donors over constituents it goes completely against my moral compass. If I do ever decide to run for partisan office it will be most likely as a Democrat though just because its virtually impossible to win as an independent or third-party candidate in our current system.

[sting in the rafters]

While I feel constrained reducing my political evolution, an amalgamation of my lived experiences, an anthology of flame wars over the years, and education both formal and self-taught, to mere “party switch”, the central event in my rather insular worldview remains the Great Recession causing a seismic leftist shift.

(WARNING: EXPOSITION DUMP, LISTED SKIP BELOW)

First, my parents. Their fusionist conservatism colorized the infancy of my political cognizance. My mother recounted my papou fleeing the completion of his service in the Greek merchant marines so he could come to this country. He came to this nation with the clothes on his back and was willing to give up his inheritance in Greece to marry my nanie, a Roman Catholic woman. Fun fact: I’m considered a bastard in Greece for this reason! As an entrepreneur he did well enough to give my mom’s generation a choice: he would either pay for their full education at the most prestigious institution they were accepted to, or a car of their choice. Mom chose to go to Virginia Tech, my uncles chose their respective Mustangs and Supras. You tell me which votes the way they do now.

Dad was a little different. The middle of seven, he learned from a young age the importance of organized labor. My paternal grandparents were both Teamsters, pop-pop in DHL and Mom-mom a nurse. My great pop-pop’s generation before them were Greatest Generation Democrats. Pop-pop NEVER voted. He didn’t need to. He was taken care of no matter who won. Mom-mom was/is a single-issue swing voter on the issue of abortion; Pennsylvania being a closed primary state, she has changed her registration to Democratic in the past to vote for Casey Sr./Jr. Her convictions originate with faith; I’d have an easier time coaxing John Candy in an Olympic swimming race than convincing her of the “undue burden” standard.

Dad didn’t finish college; He didn’t need to, or at least didn’t think he did. At any rate, by the time his generation reached voting age the class identity bonding the New Deal Coalition had come apart at the seams. After all, Sunday Dinner, a most hollowed Italian-American tradition, celebrates our VICTORY over hunger. His primary concerns were sociological, not physiological. And well, when the working-class Catholics stop voting like they’re working-class, they start voting like Catholics.

(SKIP TO HERE)

Their politics flowed from the experiences above; their party was the party of the self-made man, won the Cold War, and championed the family as the building blocks of an upstanding society. Because for them it was. Sure, dad took on a second job when we were little so mom could both stay at home with us and take night classes towards her teaching master’s. But that was part of the social contract: Success came from working hard, playing the rules. You took your knocks.

Christianity didn’t end at the steeple or the prayer group: my dad sought to impress the Charismatic traditions. That meant the usual CCD, going to chapel’s prayer meeting once a weekday, etc. I don’t resent him for this; I’ve talked to him and he thought it’d do for us what it did for him; the Holy Spirit is his favorite aspect of the Godhead, for it is not dead as the Father and Son’s words are to parchment paper. Thus, he figured it was the best way to explore our faith. Still, Pokemon forbiddance and many tedious Sunday afternoons of lingering around the church foyer while my dad conversed with the nuns were dogmas I only later view as foolish. Fortunately his belief in faith-healing only extends to curing his gluten allergy so none of my brothers and I became Darwin Award victims.

My mom and dad separated in February 2008. I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of their divorce. However, I cannot help but point out they had an adjustable rate mortgage and remember in the months leading up to they discussed refinancing (as if a 3rd grader had any clue). First we could no longer afford the summer tradition of renting a week at a condo down the shore. Then it became having tendies or pasta w/steamed veggies nearly every night. Then we’d go a couple days each month without cable/internet. Then the NALC caved. Dad took a paycut, Praise Allah he kept his benefits. Then the AFT local caved (one of the great things regarding PA’s godforsaken brand of parochialism is each town has their own school district. This ot only fulfills the Randian fantasy of wealth hoarding, but since each school district has their own union chapter, it reduces negotiating power.) and well…. Mom wasn’t tenured yet. So yeah. sh**t started to hit the fan.

Enter Obama.

He signed the HAMP program into being as one of his first acts as president. My dad swears to this day the relief is the only reason we stayed in a great school district. His opponents didn’t.
He extended unemployment benefits giving, my family the support they needed to pay the bills while my mom was laid off, still fighting over child support in the legal system. His opponents didn’t.
He enabled me to stay covered by my dad’s cushy Federal Employee Program insurance plan for another few years as opposed to purchasing the standard package from my current employer at a market-based premium. His opponents didn’t.
He ordered the hit delivering justice for the thousands of Americans murdered on 9/11. His opponents didn’t.
He ensured via supporting SNAP I ate lunch every school-day. His opponents didn’t.

Other factors played a role. My older brother coming out as gay likely the most prevalent. While my dad was never the “Adam and Eve no Adam and Steve” type, his acceptance of my brother instilled he channeled his faith not as a universal screed against fire and brimstone but as his own, personal tool of self-fulfillment. The internet was a factor as well. The predominantly atheistic Ranting Community both harangued my previously accepted dogma with a degree of juvenile irreverence  and gave me my own to latch onto. I went from unironically reading Conservapedia to post-ironically reading RatWiki (shout-out that fine a-- Mary Magdalene). The CCD Bible Study ironically served to know the enemy in that context. Dailykos got me on my netroots (gee, who’s this Kucinich guy? His wife’s pretty hot!). I  also figured the TV parental control lock was my mom’s birth month and year and not long after was staying up past my bedtime watching J-Stew pitch 101 on the gun towards Beck or whichever poor Tea Party hack of the day wanted it.

Ultimately, for better or worse Barack Hussein Obama shaped the man typing this post. He registered my parents as Democrats because of his words; 8 years later, I registered as a Democrat because of what he did. I still like some local Dems such as Danielle Friel Otten, Katie Muth, and the recently retired Dan Dinniman for their conservationist efforts and senior center funding respectively. Now almost 6 years later from my registration, I can only ask: What the f___ have they done for me lately on the national level?

[TDAS04]

HP.

[Goldwater]

HP.

wut

[Horus]

I got tired of their utter lack of tactical or strategical resolve to accomplish anything.

This and Obama's foreign policy.

[sting in the rafters]

Now almost 6 years later from my registration, I can only ask: What the f___ have they done for me lately on the national level?

Never in doubt.

[S019]

The GOP went totally insane and I also realized they didn't care about issues that I prioritized like gun control and climate change. It just felt wrong to remain a Republican solely for economic issues, when I don't even care for them that much, and then they couldn't even get that right and passed a tax scam which unfairly milked and punished my state. The reason I originally became a Republican was because my parents were Republicans and the first political opinion that I had was hating the ACA, however eventually my parents moved away from the Republicans during Trump's rise to power and during the middle of the Trump presidency, I too decided to leave the party. I realized the GOP was becoming the opposite of what I stood for and I could not support a party like that. My first vote (2021) was a straight Democratic vote, and I don't anticipate voting Republican (outside of a Charlie Baker/Phil Scott style scenario) for a long time. I did once have conservative views on issues like healthcare and abortion, but as I look back now, I was pretty sheltered and flipped on these issues almost immediately after being exposed to life outside of my circle.

[WD]

sadly there is no american chapter of the worker’s party of korea, so not much of a choice (Democrat).