S/O: Do you have the same political views as your parents?

[kokotg]

My poor parents: both very politically conservative, yet they've managed to raise two flaming liberals. My casual observation has been that, Alex P. Keaton notwithstanding, children of conservative parents are much more likely to turn out liberal than the other way around. It may be, though, that, living where I do, I just have a much larger sample of conservative parents to observe. So I'm interested to see what a poll reveals. I realize more nuance than "conservative" and "liberal" would be ideal, but I'll use those as shorthand. I guess for the purposes of this poll, we'll go with your parents' political ideology when you still lived at home (i.e. if your parents were raging liberals when you were in high school but have since embraced conservatism, you'd answer that your parents were liberal).

[Pippen]

My mom and I used to be polar opposites, but now she has come to see the light. ;)

[Audrey]

My parents were fairly conservative -- my dad much more so than my mom.

 

I am very far on the other end of the spectrum.

[Mrs Mungo]

Other: we are all moderate Dems, but we have differing opinions on a few specific topics.

[Wabi Sabi]

My mother is completely apolitical. Has never voted once in her entire life and has absolutely zero interest in politics. My siblings range from fairly apathetic to very interested in politics. Of those of us who do have an interest in politics we all lean varying degrees left.

[Hannah C.]

My parents' political views are hard to pigeonhole, but for most of my childhood they were conservative. I'm conservative...though at the rate I'm going I'll soon be hard to pigeonhole as well ;) Regardless, I agree with them on most things, from what I can tell.

[beaners]

My parents were both liberal during my childhood. I was fairly liberal in college (who isn't?) but I've become more and more conservative. Since my "conversion" one of my parents has become slightly more conservative as well.

[Aquinas Academy]

I went with other. My parents and I don't fit into "liberal" and "conservative" designations well.

[Aelwydd]

Conservative parents, here. I'm a liberal. My sisters are both conservative.

 

Same situation for dh. Parents are conservative, he's liberal. His brother is really neither.

[dangermom]

I didn't really answer. My dad is very conservative/libertarian, and my husband has also gone that way. My mom and I match--we're more moderate, and we don't like anybody. A pox on both their houses, we say, and we vote for the ones we hate least.

[cindergretta]

My dad and I are both rather centrists. We can lean pretty liberal on this or that and then turn around and lean pretty conservative on this other thing and that other thing.

 

My mother is a nut and hasn't a clue but thinks she knows it all. :glare: She'll vote for anyone who says they are a born again Christian.

[Plucky]

Liberal hippies or feminist parents. I am conservative.

[Farrar]

Traditional southern conservative father, very tow the line Democrat mother... I'm basically liberal, but much more libertarian leaning than my mother, so I don't know that she really formed my opinions. We disagree about a lot of things.

[serabi]

I'm really liberal at this point, for American politics.

 

My parents are very conservative.

[Tree House Academy]

My parents are both pretty liberal, but dh and I are conservative.

[kiana]

My dad was left-ish, my mother was right-ish and has swung to the far right with age.

 

I'm left-ish socially, right-ish fiscally. One of my brothers is the same, one of them is right-ish on both, and the sister's left-ish on both.

[Peela]

My dad used to be conservative, my mum liberal. I think my mum is much more liberal, and my dad maybe fairly liberal nowadays. Both are greenies- dad becoming more so as he got older.

 

I am liberal. My mum is much, much more politically savvy than me though. Her partner (not my dad) is quite extremely liberal and very politically aware and it has influenced my mum considerably. I have a bunch of hippies as parents, although I didn't grow up that way! I love them for it.

[momtotkbb]

Interesting poll. My dh and I were just discussing this topic last week. I came from very conservative/republican parents and both my db and I have remained so. My dh's parents were fairly conservative/dems - of his four siblings he and one brother are conservative/republicans and his oldest brother and sis are very liberal/dems. Our dc so far (only one is old enough to really have a political viewpoint) leans our way.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

My parents aren't necessarily conservative or liberal. They sort of swing all over the board on their beliefs. (Neither is particularly politically active. I don't think they vote, but we do talk about the issues, especially around election time.)

 

I'm also neither conservative nor liberal. Certain issues are dear to my heart, unfortunately they are each a champion cause for opposing parties.

 

(Interestingly- my parents and I have almost exactly opposite beliefs. I believe one thing about capital punishment, they believe another. I believe one thing about abortion, they believe another. I believe one thing about gay marriage, they believe the opposite. I believe one thing about large/small governments, they believe another.... it does on! :tongue_smilie:)

[Impish]

I voted other.

 

I don't have a clue who they voted for in the last election. I *suspect* it was Harper, but its not something that we talk about much.

 

Canada, I find, tends to have less 'lifetime' members to any political parties.

[justamouse]

conservative parents, I'm a flaming liberal to them, but I'm actually moderate.

[Veritaserum]

Parents are conservative Republican. I'm fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I dislike both major parties equally, for different reasons.

[ereks mom]

Okay, change my vote--somehow when I scrolled down to click Vote Now, the option I selected got changed and I didn't notice it until afterwards. My vote should have been "I'm conservative; my parents were conservative", but instead it registered as "I'm conservative, my parents were liberal". Sorry about that! Must be the fact that I'm using my netbook with the trackpad instead of the mouse.

[actuary]

My mom is a conservative, my dad is a libertarian at heart who votes Republican and I am a libertarian/classical liberal/old time business republican/fiscally conservative, socially liberal (basically not quite sure how to classify my views exactly, now that I think about it more).

Edited June 5, 2011 by actuary

[YLVD]

My parents are very liberal, I'm very liberal. :001_smile:

[FrogMom5]

Other - my parents were moderate dems. and I'm a conservative leaning independent.

Denise

[Negin]

By American standards, we're all equally liberal and Democrat, very much towards things like universal health care, etc.

[myfunnybunch]

Other. My father is very conservative; my mother, middle-of-the-road leaning toward liberal.

 

I tend to be a mix. I range from fairly conservative on some issues to flaming liberal on others.

 

Cat

[tntgoodwin]

Currently the poll, from top to bottom shows 18, 18, 12, 12, 8, 8, 11. I thought that was interesting.

 

My dad is conservative/libertarian, my mom is conservative apathetic. She pretty much votes however my dad does. I am libertarian as well, but maybe slightly less conservative than my dad.

[Maverick_Mom]

I grew up parroting the views of my mother. Didn't think about them at all (mine was not exactly a "well-trained mind" :D) -- it was easier, and safer, to regurgitate her opinions than to form my own. But I was dimly aware that my very passive father had strongly-held political beliefs that were totally at odds with my mother's. He tended to voice them only at tax time ;), but when he did, he was full of conviction.

 

Then I met dh. When we were dating, we had all sorts of interesting discussions about politics, and he asked thought-provoking questions that encouraged me to consider what I *really* thought about various issues. Turns out I am a lot more like my dad, politically, than my mother.

[Mama Geek]

I voted that my parents were conservative, but I am much more conservative.

[LidiyaDawn]

"other" - I have no idea what my parents' political views are.

[creekland]

My parents were liberal and I was through college. Once I started teaching in our public high school and hubby opened his own business I switched to being conservative due to having seen more of "life."

 

My mom is starting to switch - esp in the last two years. My dad now can go either way. Same with my sister.

 

My grandmother has been liberal all of her life. She's starting to switch too (at 91!). We had our first real political talk with her really sharing her views openly over Memorial Day weekend. She went back to Truman/Dewey with me (but didn't talk about them all - just high points in her life). Just the talk alone was priceless. She said my aunts and uncles have all switched from being liberal over the years - some earlier than others.

 

Hubby came from conservative parents and is still conservative.

[SquirrellyMama]

My parents are liberal and I'm conservative.

[FiveOaksAcademy]

Yes, thank goodness!! Conservative!! :001_smile:

[BarbecueMom]

My Dad is conservative, and my mom just votes for whoever is attractive. She's rethinking that position after John Edwards.

 

I'm mostly conservative, but I'm becoming more apathetic. Maybe when I can sleep all night without being interrupted by screaming toddlers, I'll be able to form a coherent political opinion.

[DawnM]

My parents are far, far, far right.

 

I am moderate and do not consider myself a liberal, but my parents consider me one! :lol: Anything close to center is too liberal for them. :tongue_smilie:

[kokotg]

So...based on the results so far, we can expect to have pretty much no influence whatsoever on our kids politically :D

[LaxMom]

Flaming liberal of a flaming liberal. My mom is a curiosity, mostly an apathetic Dem. Dad and I have very loud and animated discussions (in which we are in complete agreement) that startle my husband. :lol:

[chiguirre]

I voted that we're all liberals, but that's not really true, we're all centrists. My mom started out a Republican and would still be one if it were the party of Eisenhower or even Nixon (or even Governor Romney instead of Candidate Romney). As it stands, she hasn't voted for a Republican since Jack Anderson. My dad got his US citizenship too late to ever vote R, and he belonged to the Labour party in the UK (but he lived in Glasgow, it goes with the territory).

[kchara]

My dad is an extreme liberal. My mom says she's conservative, but, really, she goes whatever way the wind blows. She's very easily swayed to either side. I'm very conservative.

[JennyD]

My parents used to both be pretty middle-of-the-road. My mother has remained so, perhaps a bit tipped towards conservative, but my father has gone rather far to the right. I have become more liberal as I have gotten older, as has my DH. Although it's hard to tell how much I've changed and how much the world has changed.

 

I studiously avoid talking politics with my father. The problem is that he increasingly ties *everything* to politics, so as time goes on we speak less and less. It is upsetting but there is nothing I can do about it.

 

On a lighter note, there is a ton of social scientific research on parents and political attitudes. Historically speaking, the greatest predictor of a person's political attitudes has been their parents' political attitudes, but this phenomenon ebbs and flows.

[SailorMom]

Both of my parents were conservative Republicans. i, however, turned into a Libertarian. I am fiscally conservative and believe in less government, but am socially liberal in many ways.

[unsinkable]

My parents died when I was a teenager.

 

other -- I know what my parents were registered as (dad - independant, mom - democrat) but we never had conversations specifically about political views/ideals.

 

I know they were both pro-life, anti-death penalty but that's all I recall off the top of my head.

[Mom-ninja.]

My parents are liberal and I am.

 

DH's parents are conservative and his liberal. His parents think it's my fault. ;)

[TheReader]

Other: My mom is very conservative, always has been. My dad was pretty conservative, is now a bit of a mix, but still mostly conservative. Me, I'm so mixed up that I really don't know. I'm liberal on some things (social issues), conservative on others (death penalty) and honestly don't even know what political party I'd most align myself with these days.

[pdalley]

My father was a conservative - on some things.

 

My mother was a raging liberal hippie rabid bra burning (yes, she actually did) feminist. She's not quite that rabid now but she did hang up on me and wouldn't speak to me for three months due to the last presidential election. She brought it up and then got mad because I responded. I do not discuss politics with her. Period. It's pass the bean dip time.

 

After parroting her views until I reaching college I started to think on my own and was a conservative before I met DH. He's a conservative also.