I used to be on the other side

Well, its not quite like you, and I dont live n the USA, but for what its worth, I think I can relate from my own experience.
I live in germany. Now, some of you may know, right-wing here is basically the rest-of-the-worlds center. Plus, I live in probably the most leftwing-green-liberal place in the country, or close to it. Tree-Hugger County, if you will.

Either way, I grew up near/in a russian ghetto, not being one myself but for all of my life having a ton of friends, people around me etc. being of at least half a dozen different countries. From that part, I guess you could call me left wing, and everyone here was.

Now, when I turned 18 and finished school, I went to the military. In germany, things dont go far more rightwing than being a soldier.... you are actively being mobbed for it in places, especially back then, before 9/11 and such.

Now, at the same time, I sort of found my patrioc vein so to speak, and started to realize and be somewhat proud of things about my country. Patriot in germany is also a term deemed very risky, rightwing, and not just a little bit offensive.
So while I hadnt changed my view on any issues really, I was considered right-wing by a lot of people, which led to a lot of annoying discussions really.
Now, today I dont live in germany anymore, but in Austria due to girlfriendy reasons, plus career considerations. By all accounts, I am almost a lefty extremist by their standards.
And for the entire fucking life of mine, I didnt change my stance on more than a handful of side issues.

So, yeah, while I did not change, the classification of what my opinion means did change several times, making me left, right, centrist and extreme left all by themselves. Weird.

Oh yes this was me when I was around 20. Of course it didn't help that my house was skinhead central. I attribute it to the ignorance of youth. Things are different when you are married and supporting a family.

Eh, I went from being apolitical to slightly jingoistic Republican to full-on libtard. My grandparents breathed a sigh of relief when I finally moved away from the Dark Side.

My family is convinced that I am a dyed in the wool Republican because I like money, enjoy going to the shooting range, and drive a truck. I had more right wing tendencies in my younger days. I really didn't give a shit about social programs and the such, but as I matured I changed my view quite a bit more.

There are still issues that I don't get 100% behind myself (maybe I'm "evil" but I don't even recycle and my truck gets 12mpg), but I definitely much more left leaning than my family is, and what they perceive me to be.

So I don't consider myself left or right, I'm firmly moderate. I understand that the world is all kinds of gray, and almost never black and white, so I approach all issues like that. But my family still tries to tie me back into Texas stereotypes and deem me their little Republican. It's sad when your family chooses to ignore what you've grown up to be.

My parents are (moderate) douchebag Republican's, so for many years I listened to the rhetoric of Limbaugh and Hannity and accepted it. Then, at some point around 18, I started to get some exposure to other political viewpoints, and finally saw the light. Now there are constant political arguments over dinner as my Father tries to justify voting for McCain. Ugh.

I never registered Republican, though. I'm not registered to either party.

I liked Reagan when I was nine.

I started my life in the bosom of Blue Dog Democrats. The older I've gotten the farther Left I've become. I find more in the writing of Chomsky or Emma Goldman and Eugene Debs today than I ever "felt" attending a Bill Clinton campaign rally or being extolled the virtues of John F. Kennedy (or his brother Robert) and FDR by my party elders.

I've been leaning to Marxism but I'm not sure yet...some tenets of anarchy are also appealing to me...on the right ideals I agree a big government, obviously, can be quite hard to keep in check...but almost everybody in North America who is right-wing is pro-government. It's quite confusing.

As far as I remember, I've always been left-of-center and am moving further left as time goes on.

I was an angry young fuckwit who didn't believe in the system, so a non-voter (?). Smartened up since then. Honed my distrust with knowledge.

I am right wing, but not Republican. I am closer to being a libertarian, but libertarians are too black and white, and I don't believe in free will. There are times when the government need to act to help it people, but the government is never a friend. My family was Republican, but during the Reagan years moved away from the Republican Party. The Republican Party in it own way is as socialistic of the Democrat Party.

In 1980 when I was 7 my parents had to come to school and talk to the teacher because I had used show and tell to explain how Ronald Reagan would start WWIII and kill us all in a nuclear holocaust.

I used to be a good Catholic boy. Hell, I started posting here being Catholic, two or three years ago. I used to believe in intelligent design. Then I started noticing how religion and fanaticism is bullshit and retards the evolution of society and civilizations. Then I noticed how The Bible is full of bullshit and contradictions. I started to see how convenience plays a role in religion A LOT.

Then one day I thought "when I die I'm gonna go to a place where every single good person who's ever died lives together in peace and harmony?"

And that's when I decided I'd be the same off believing in Zeus.

I used to be a pragmatist but then I realized my body was chocked full of thetans. I'm much better now.

glorious

When I was 6 or 7 the most obnoxious kid in the neighbourhood argued that we shouldn't fear the soviets because our friend, Ronald Reagan would come to our rescue. Which made me hate RR.
Then in my early teens I took every easy right wing/libertarian stance on things like crime and capital punishment followed by years of not giving a fuck.

After 9/11 I started following american politics, being a bit rusty (stupid), I actually bought the Bush administration's reasons for going into Iraq. Facts and common sense soon showed me the error of my ways. By american standards I am now a certified liberal leftie.

So basically you just played this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MzShg7yXik

I'm a child of pot-smoking hippies* who was present, in the womb, at the protest in DC for Nixon's second inauguration. I've always been a lefty. I remember watching the Mondale/Reagan debates and thinking that Mondale kicked his ass. Sigh.

After 2000, I learned to vote strategically, instead of blindly following ideology. Sorry for the Nader vote, ya'll, but I guess it didn't matter in Texas anyway.

*My parents, somewhat depressingly, and like far too many of their peers, became yuppies in the 1980s and have never fully recovered. They still vote democratic (my dad caucused for Jerry Brown in '92!), but live in a way-too-large house in the ex-urbs and consume like crazy.

Hell, I used to be a necrophiliac, 'til some rotten cunt split on me.

ba da dum dum

apologies.

I became saved when I was 19 years old, and was obnoxious and toxic. It lasted less than a year, and my husband (then boyfriend) waited patiently for me to come to my senses before we got married.

I left it all behind and never looked back. I reflect on that time in my life and I'm embarrassed at how I behaved, and honestly, I didn't like myself any better back then. I knew that shit was wrong, wrong, wrong, and I'm just too hardcore liberal to ever embrace a fundie point of view.

I've always been a lefty. I think I described Bush sr. as a big bully when I was wee.

That said I no longer view things in black and white, as I did as a child.

I suppose I've always been fairly liberal, but I never really gave politics much thought at all until my senior year Government class. Before then, I'd just nod complacently when my mother or grandfather would talk about voting Republican, how ungood Clinton was, yadda yadda yadda. Then the topic of gays serving in the military came up, and everyone in the class started crowing about evil homosexuals and their deviant ways, and the teacher was feeding them along, until I couldn't take it anymore.

Me: "Who someone finds attractive should have nothing to do with their ability to serve their country."

Teacher: "Tell that to the straight men who have to look out when taking a communal shower."

Me: "Do you know the distinction between gays and sexual predators? What is it about gays that scares you so much?"

And he didn't answer. He just stared at me. The bell rang and even though I had to endure being called a faggot-lover by a majority of my classmates (this is College Station, home of the Proudly Ignorant Texas Aggies) for the rest of the semester, I knew I'd never be able to tolerate a political stance that aligned itself with intolerance. And for the last eight years, that means a big "fuck you" to anyone what calls themselves Republican.

Funny, it'd usually be a conservative saying this.

Er, I forgot about my late-teens libertarian streak, which fizzled as I started thinking about things like moving out of my parents' house...

I was fairly conservative in my teens (never got bent out of shape about the social issues, but understood the right wing arguments). College found me kind of politically apathetic, but holding on to some of the Republican economic arguments. I casually voted for Bush in 2000, as I thought that his education plans were sound, and I disliked Gore and Lieberman (thought it'd be a major pro-censorship administration). Then 9/11, and the Patriot Act...next thing you know I've joined the ACLU. The run-up to war was the final straw.

Haven't looked back.

For what it's worth, unlike most teens who dabble in conservatism, I do pride myself in always having understood that Objectivism sucked and that Ayn Rand was full of shit.

Yup, I hear that quote from my Republican Father all the time. Who wants to give more money to others when they have a family to raise? Bla bla bla.

My father use to be diehard Republican during the nineties. A day wouldn't go by without him bitching about Clinton and how he was going to be the end of military(he was a National Guard drill sergeant, oh how fun that was growing up) and a lot of it rubbed off on me. Then, in 1994, something happened. He got sick and was unable to work. The Guard, who wouldn't admit he got sick in the service, weaseled him out of his benefits. After seven years of being in debt, living with relatives and scraping by on whatever shit job my mom took, a family friend finally got the VA to give my father the medical benefits he was screwed out of. How has this changed my father's world view? Well now he's a Daily show watching', Rachael Maddow loving, dye-in-the-wool Democrat who popped open a bottle of champagne when Obama gave his acceptance speech.

In 7th or 8th grade I was part of a debate that was put on for my entire middle school by my Advanced Placement(Target in GA, not sure if they are still called that) classes I was in.

After researching the issues I chose to be a part of the Democrat team because I was enamored of Michael Dukakis. Each team had four debaters and each debater had their own topic to counterpoint with the other side. My topic was Willie Horton and weekend furlough programs. The pre-debate election had Bush winning quite handily. Post debate we had successfully argued the win for Dukakis. Essays that explained why votes were changed ultimately proved to show that 60% of those who flip-flopped did so on the weekend furlough, or my, issue. I have always been proud of that.

I spent the entirety of my HS years as a Southern Democrat until I was introduced to Neal Boortz on the radio in ATL by a professor in college. That in turn led me to the Libertarian party where I currently reside as a dues paying member. I attended and worked the election night party for Harry Browne in 2000.

The 9/11 attacks find me in a minority of the Libertarian party wherein I identify as a Pro-War Libertarian.

I'm an advocate of the Fair Tax and believe my party could make giant headway if they would put drug legalization on the back burner and bring other issues to the forefront.

I believe that government possesses one instrument that the rest of us do not have in our interactions with others. Force and the ability to use it. At the point of a gun is how the government operates and I don't believe that is how people should be motivated.

I think Ron Paul was(is) a fucknut.

I find no discernible difference in the following two quotes: