General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: DUers, what did your dad do or say during your childhood that has influenced how you live [View all]drmeow
(5,155 posts)Republican - at least when I was a child - cause everyone in his family was (except my grandmother) and I don't think he ever told any of the males in his family when he changed his party affiliation. I KNOW he didn't vote for Reagan or for any Republican since, before that I don't know - I would guess the last Republican he voted for was probably Goldwater or maybe Nixon in '68. He's very anti-military, too, so who knows. My grandmother, on the other hand, was a VERY active Democrat (would have been the Democratic candidate for some big office in their town in Northern CA but wouldn't give the party leader his quid pro quo, if you know what I mean, and that was the end of her career in politics!) and instilled those feminist, environmentalist (very big on zero growth), and social justice values in him from early on. My Mom also comes from a mixed background (LOTS of heavy duty military among her uncles and cousins including 2 four star generals, one of whom was on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Korea) but lots of feminism and old style Catholic social justice.
I count myself very blessed to have a very leftist immediate family (my sister, a developmental economist, and I are almost certainly the furthest to the left).