My friend is a McCain supporter - what?

[lightningandsnow]

So, I checked one of my camp friends' facebook pages, and apparently she's a big republican/McCain supporter.

Which confuses the bejeesus out of me, because it doesn't seem like who she is at all.

Seriously, she's one of the most accepting, "live and let live" people ever. I mean, she's a counsellor at an arts camp where (this is a wild guess) about 20% of the older campers and staff are LGBTQ-identified.

And she's friends with me, the big lefty activist.

I'm hella confused, but I guess this just goes to show that not all Republicans are the same...or something.

I'm still wondering why she considers herself a Republican in the first place.

[Chan790]

1. Sometimes people aren't who you think they are...

several of my closest friends are McCainiacs. I've got two close friends who work for the McCain campaign, my ex-girlfriend is now a national leader of an anti-abortion organization, and I don't even want to think about how many of my friends work for organizations that are publicly homophobic. (I'm a former victim of life-long Catholic education. Pre-K through college.)

Why am I still friends with these people? Because I knew them before they were idiots and despite their idiocy I enjoy their company. As the crazy super-religious ex says: "Hate the sin, not the sinner."

[LynneSin]

2. Sometimes you need to find the one issue they care about the most....

....and you work on them why Obama is the best choice as president.

[ghostsofgiants]

3. One possible answer: Her parents are Republicans and she is intellectually lazy.

I've seen that a lot amongst my own friends, they vote for who their parents vote for because it's the way they've always voted.

[Left Is Write]

4. I always vote for who my parents vote for...

...but that's because they vote for the good guys. :D

[ghostsofgiants]

5. But do you vote for them because it's who they vote for?

or because you formed your own, informed decision?

I've had friends of mine say "I'll just vote (whoever) because that's who my parents always voted for, and my grandparents too." Made me want to cockpunch 'em. :P

[Left Is Write]

6. I think you probably know the answer to that question.

:)

At age eight, I was suspicious of President Richard Nixon because I knew my father disliked him.

At age ten, I voted for Jimmy Carter in our school's mock election because I knew my parents were going to vote for Jimmy Carter.

At age eighteen, I voted for Walter Mondale, because I knew my parents would vote for Walter Mondale, and I was raised in a Minnesota DFL home.

But you know, my dad was never afraid to talk about why he voted the way he did and why he believed as he did. He's a big believer in looking out for those who are unable to look out for themselves. As I grew up and grew older, I understood the reasons my parents voted Democrat, and, moreover, I agreed with them. Would I be a liberal if I'd grown up in a conservative, Republican home? I can't say. I hope that I would, but often, our raising shapes us in ways it's difficult to change.

For me, it's not a matter of, "My daddy votes D, so I do too," it's a matter of "My daddy is a smart man, and I've learned an awful lot from him in 42 years, and I can see for myself how right he is about so many things." We do not agree on some of the smaller points, but our big picture lines up pretty well.

If he had a sudden and complete shift in personality, ethics, and beliefs tomorrow and became a McCain supporter (the thought makes me nauseated, mind you), I'd still be behind Obama.

[Tikki]

7. My guess, also.

Tikki