What do you think your political views are a product of? / LJWorld.com

Asked at Massachusetts Street on September 19, 2008

“Mostly from my family and friends when we talk and exchange ideas.”

— Ahmed Mimtiaz, salesperson, New York

“My beliefs have probably been influenced most by my five children. I grew up a Republican, and now I can’t believe that I was ever there.”

— Susan Garlinghouse, community volunteer, Topeka

“My family. My father’s side would be considered conservative, and my mother’s side is more liberal. I was brought up mostly by my mom’s side, so I’ve grown up with a liberal point of view with conservative undertones.”

— Matt Hoffman, package sorter, Topeka

“I think it’s partly based on family and partly based on the environment where I received my education.”

— Amy Sherman, Kansas University graduate student, Lawrence

Study suggests link between DNA and political persuasion

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bombshell 4 years, 8 months ago

For me, it was being fed Liberal kool-aid as an infant. Now I probably have the strongest bones and most keen intellect in comparison to any normal milk-fed child. GObama.

Satirical 4 years, 8 months ago

Government's repeated, complete, and utter failures. Along with idiots who think they can spend my money better than I can.

My views are a product of influence of my family primarily, as my grandmother was a Congresswoman (R) in California, and a few aunts and uncles are lobbyists in D.C. for AARP, Ducks Unlimited, and the Automobile industry. While most of my family is Republican, a few including myself are fairly consistantly Democratic.

Godot 4 years, 8 months ago

A very liberal college education, followed by years of hard knocks which taught me that the world doesn't work they way I was told it would.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 4 years, 8 months ago

Sudden flights of whimsy, fueled by thoughts of fancy.

Satirical 4 years, 8 months ago

Chinese baby formula

xbusguy 4 years, 8 months ago

gettin my butt burned by Bush and company

ohjayhawk 4 years, 8 months ago

My magic 8 ball.

snap_pop_no_crackle 4 years, 8 months ago

Seeing my mother's head chopped off by Thulsa Doom, then spending my teenage years as a pit fighter.

jonas_opines 4 years, 8 months ago

notajayhawk (Anonymous) says:"All I can say is thank the powers that be they're NOT from reading the award-winning LJW"Are you sure about that? Because the tone of the rest of your post sounds remarkably similar to a number of other right-wingers we have on here: sarcastic, conceited, contemptuous. . . . . . and wrong.

rodneyking 4 years, 8 months ago

electoshock and waterboarding

hitme 4 years, 8 months ago

excessive amounts of alcohol

acg 4 years, 8 months ago

Logic, common sense and having at least two brain cells to rub together. Unlike my conservative counterparts who make every decision based on either what their preacher tells them, what their mommies tell them or what Rush tells them.

trinity 4 years, 8 months ago

my mama. oh, yeah, and the beatles.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 8 months ago

Ronda's BLOGs

notajayhawk 4 years, 8 months ago

All I can say is thank the powers that be they're NOT from reading the award-winning LJW or the looney-left Larryville kool-aid drinkers that comprise the bulk of its message board members.

toe 4 years, 8 months ago

taxes

oldvet 4 years, 8 months ago

Of course I'm a Republican... someone has to be... we can't all be on welfare!

jaywalker 4 years, 8 months ago

Sure thing, bea. Could you expound some more on how someone's an elitist because they were a cheerleader? Was that an 'unsolicited personal attack' which 'your' (sic) always whining about? Or are 'you're' (sic) panties in a bunch because you know you have nothing of consequence, meaning, or simple rationality to add to any discussion? Don't bother to answer, I'm sure I could get more insight from your cats than anything you have to say.

Satirical 4 years, 8 months ago

Logicsound04...You seem to be very touchy today. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Or are you upset that Obama still hasn't decided whether the AIG bailout is a good thing, oddly coinciding with his numerous "present" votes? Or Obama's poor decision to pick Biden as his VP pick, something which even Biden disagrees with?

snap_pop_no_crackle 4 years, 8 months ago

TOB, yar, yee scurvy dogs. Batten down the poop deck!

humblecommentator 4 years, 8 months ago

Reagan

Tbird1 4 years, 8 months ago

I am just saying that a conservative point of view is not easily swayed. I love guns, hate taxes and despise anyone that tells me that government needs to be bigger. Obama is, hands down, the WORST option for this country right now. I am not saying McCain is the BEST. Obama shouldnt even be an option.

jonas_opines 4 years, 8 months ago

"My son is conservative, I am conservative, my father and both grandfathers are conservative:::..need I say more?"No, I think by this that we all understand that you totally and thoughtlessly assimilate nothing other than the viewpoints of the figures in your life that you perceive as having authority, regardless of their utility or applicability. You don't need to say any more, but are certainly free to should you desire to.

sgtwolverine 4 years, 8 months ago

Probably a product of my dislike of the idea that the world can be easily split into two halves. I don't care what the split is -- conservative/liberal, right/left, republican/democrat -- it's obnoxious and oversimplified. So basically, my political views are that politics are obnoxious and oversimplified.Arrrrr.

conservativepunker 4 years, 8 months ago

My parents, who suffered through the great depression, my education and degree in American History, and the current state of our country, with many people having turned into whiners and wanting everything given to them, not being self reliant and doing what needs to be done to be self sufficient.

BuffyloGal 4 years, 8 months ago

"My are a result of a lifetime of traditional GOP background with a huge splash of backlash against the Religious Rite. I remained with my traditional GOP values while the GOP morphed their famous 180 degree from what the GOP once stood for, the dubious morph due to religious rite influences."_You sound like my mother who has always called herself a Rockefeller Republican (as in Nelson, NY). She too is disgusted by what has happened to the GOP and is voting for Obama as a result. It's a shame they got so far off track as it has disappointed many voters.

beatrice 4 years, 8 months ago

Well jay, that last part shouldn't be too difficult to accomplish.

RedwoodCoast 4 years, 8 months ago

I never realized that my dad was rather liberal on certain things only after I had become so. Maybe growing up in a small Kansas town around a crowd of stuffy conservative folks is what did it. It felt to constraining, I think. So, as is probably the case for everyone on here, it was a melange of nature and nurture.

sgtwolverine 4 years, 8 months ago

"Not to mention the fact that he appears willing to say whatever he can to get elected."Uh ... let's not operate under any illusions here. I'm pretty sure almost every presidential candidate could fit that description.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 8 months ago

beatrice: "A conscience."Who do you think you're kidding, Bea?The "conscience" is, at best, a vestigial organ,having long ago lost any functional role for modern man.( ... oh, sure, watch out when it flares, though-nothingcan leave bent over in pain like a bout of consciencitis. )

1029 4 years, 8 months ago

Life's been hard on me so now I hate society and therefore always vote Republican. I'm sick of working hard and seeing people who don't work as hard as I do have stuff they don't deserve. My families been hear for generations and most of these other people aren't even patriotic Americans and don't even go to church. Plus I love guns and hate paying taxes and big government scares me almost as much as foreigners do.

Satirical 4 years, 8 months ago

Logicsound04:"Why would that be any more troubling than the fact that McCain can't figure out if the fundamentals of our economy are sound or not?"First: The fundamentals of the economy are still strong. The government is partly responsible for this problem by keeping interest rates too low for too long, and pressuring banks to make loans to poor people to have the same opportunities to buy houses (even though they can't afford them).Second: McCain's alleged indecision on how strong is the economy is a comment; it is not a decision a president would need to make, like the decision whether to bail out AIG or not. McCain's alleged indecision on the current strength of the economy doesn't affect me, but the decision to bail out AIG does.Matey

BuffyloGal 4 years, 8 months ago

Bill Hicks most definitely. RIP man.

TopJayhawk 4 years, 8 months ago

AAARGH, You scalleywags.

Tbird1 4 years, 8 months ago

Conservatives are bred, unlike liberals who are easily sway by whatever is popular at the time. My son is conservative, I am conservative, my father and both grandfathers are conservative...........need I say more?

beatrice 4 years, 8 months ago

ottr is correct. We Democrats see the ignorance that abounds among Republicans, thus we choose to become Democrats. Glad you understand.

snap_pop_no_crackle 4 years, 8 months ago

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those who don't.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 8 months ago

Nabisco( originally, the National Biscuit Company )

TopJayhawk 4 years, 8 months ago

LIfe expieriences. I also remember what life was like after half a century of total democratic control in congress, and Dems having the White House at least half of that time.These intelligent, and young college students on here, God bless 'em, mean well, but they don't remember the Democratic end game in the early 80's. Do you remember double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, and double-digit unemployment? This current crises will be a cake-walk compared to that.

sgtwolverine 4 years, 8 months ago

Wait, let me rephrase: almost every presidential candidate with any hope of gaining office could fit that description.

jonas_opines 4 years, 8 months ago

Well holy crap.The first song, at least, on the new Metallica song kinda kicks @$$. Might consider downloading a few more for further sampling.

beatrice 4 years, 8 months ago

A conscience.

Tbird1 4 years, 8 months ago

Yes, I do wear the Assh*le hat proudly. Thank you for noticing!

jaywalker 4 years, 8 months ago

to the question....life lessons, world and continental travel, and a solid group of friends and colleagues smarter than myself

sunflower_sue 4 years, 8 months ago

lots of booze and fast living.

lubyloo 4 years, 8 months ago

Don't you people get it? When McCain said that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong," he was referring to workers! He clearly explained, "My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals, the American worker and their innovation, their entrepreneurship, the small business, those are the fundamentals of America and I think they're strong." When you say that the fundamentals of the economy aren't strong, you're insulting workers/fundamentals like myself. I'm sure glad it's Friday. I've had a long week -- sometimes being a fundamental can be tough!

gccs14r 4 years, 8 months ago

I listened to my parents growing up and acquired a similar worldview. Then I began to read, I observed that the world was not the place that my parents had described to me, I became educated and learned to think, and then finally rejected the myopic propaganda I had been fed as a child.

1029 4 years, 8 months ago

and my dad and his dad and all my uncles are conservative, so I want them to respect me at Thanksgiving dinner

Satirical 4 years, 8 months ago

I see people with more stuff than other people, and I think the purpose of government is to force people with more stuff to give their extra stuff to people who have less stuff, which is why I am a Democrat. I think anyone who has more stuff than someone else probably got it because they lied and cheated, not because of sacrifice and hard work. I think most people are too stupid to spend their own money and a well intentioned and omniscient government can do it much better. I like theory and don't know much about reality and what motivates people to work harder.

EireishHawk 4 years, 8 months ago

It seems a number of comments come from people who pick a president by how much money he says they will get (unearned of course) once he is president. That is truly pathetic. Is selling your vote very far removed from selling your body? I think not. That would make many of you political whores.Long ago a poster whose name I can't remember made the following comment which I thought was catchy,If you aren't a liberal by the time you are 20, you have no heartIf you aren't a conservative by the time you are 40, you have no brain.Nuf said.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 8 months ago

jaywalker: "Sure thing, bea... I'm sure I could get more insight from your cats than anything you have to say."Mmmmm... cat fight...!

jonas_opines 4 years, 8 months ago

Unforgiven III? What is that, Return of the Unforgiven?

Gareth 4 years, 8 months ago

Tbird -- Obama's the worst option? Let's look at the categories of the reasons you cite:Guns--well, he does support the assault-weapons ban. So you probably don't agree with him there......But:Bigger Government: he's planning on shrinking the government from the size that Bush/Cheney has grown it. Taxes: If you don't make over 600K a year, you won't have your taxes raised. Period. If you make less than that, you will get back more of your money than under McCain. Check the graph: http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/06/12/GR2008061200193.gifTry doing some research-- you might find that your knee-jerk reactions are incorrect.

labmonkey 4 years, 8 months ago

I grew up conservative, and have become more moderate as I got older. Both sides have good ideas, and very bad ideas. Philosophically I am slightly right of the middle, so that is why I have always liked McCain. I hope he doesn't turn conservative wack-job, and he is better than Obama who has never really stood for anything. Jonas-opines...I got Metallica floor tickets. WOOHOO. And the new album is solid. I was going to put it into their top three after Master and Lightning after the first six songs, then Unforgiven III played and it got knocked down couple places. Still, better than anything made during the Jason Newstead era.

Satirical 4 years, 8 months ago

Gareth:"Bigger Government: he's planning on shrinking the government from the size that Bush/Cheney has grown it."You have got to be kidding me. Obama has far more spending proposals that under the current bloated budget. He is a tax and spend liberal. His VP thinks it is unpatriotic if you don't pay high taxes.Obama's tax plan increases taxes on anyone making over $250k, and is essentially a welfare plan since many Americans pay little or nothing in income taxes. http://www.wsj.com/article/SB121910303529751345.htmlDid you know that the wealthiest 10% in our nation pay about 70% of the income taxes? But I guess they still aren't paying their fair share.

Jaminrawk 4 years, 8 months ago

I was raised in a conservative family. When I got older, I realized that they were interested in protecting the interests of the top 10% rather than themselves. The elite pay the most income tax because they have the most money. So the same percentage of a billionairres's income is obviously more than mine, net. They should pay the most! Sorry that the billionairre can't buy a new private jet and someone who got laid off because the billioniare's company outsourced his job to Asia, can afford to pay his mortgage.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 8 months ago

hmm... looks like my "one" key is sticking....

Gareth 4 years, 8 months ago

"You have got to be kidding me. Obama has far more spending proposals that under the current bloated budget."Absolutely 100% drinking-the-Limbaugh-KoolAid WRONG. But, hey -- if the Republicans have taught us anything it's that if you keep repeating the outrageous lies, over and over again, people will eventually believe you, right?"He is a tax and spend liberal."Wow. Welcome to political theory, circa 1980. Wake up and smell the century, genius.

BuffyloGal 4 years, 8 months ago

I sense more binary humor coming soon.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 8 months ago

"What do you think your political views are a product of?"Modern American political views appear to be a quotient ... anything divisible by two.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 8 months ago

[ tangedit ]"What do you think your political views are a product of?"Modern American political views appear to be a quotient: anything divided by two.

mom_of_three 4 years, 8 months ago

My political views are my own. Coming from a republican family, I am the only non-republican for generations. My views are tinged with common sense. And my long time republican cousin has changed to democrat. I don't belong to a party, just what makes more sense to me.