Since that “skidmarks” post was referring to the Democrats, perhaps you should pick a new example.
By the way, I’m not a Republican, but today I Officially Changed My Stance On Gun Control.
Meaning I’m now pro- (or at least meh-) gun, rather than staunchly in favor of registration.
May we ask why? I’d like to know what argument worked.
I used to be rather staunchly democratic. Now I’m more of a moderate. I’m not sure if my political views have softened over time or if parties trying very hard to distance themselves from each other have left me behind.
With regards to voting, it depends a lot on the candidates. I try not to distinguish by party and go by platform.
Green Republican here. I consider myself one of the last of members of the Bull Moose Party. My Republican politicians are the ones like Thomas Kean, Governor of NJ in the Eighties and Rudy Giuliani.
I am very pro environmental clean up. I am Pro-choice but not comfortable with the idea of abortion. I am not pro-gay marriage, but at least I am not against it and I have attended a gay marriage. I am basically anti-establish religion. I am in favor of regulating big business but anti big union at the same time. I like smaller government except the EPA and Pentagon. I am a hawk, but very against the current Administration. I am a Navy Veteran and happily voted for Reagan in my first election in 1984. I was a Young Republican in High School, but not too serious about it. I have become steadily less conservative as I have gotten older, which bucks the old adages but I do not think I am unusual in this as I feel the Republican party has abandoned many of the ideals I believe in, in favor of being the Religious Party and the Party of Big Business. We have as a country moved too far to the right.
Jim
Wow, you are a lot older than I thought you were. What d’ya think of that newfangled “radio” they’ve invented? 
Really?
How does that work? After the socially liberal Clinton administration almost abolished the national debt, along comes socially conservative Bush, who has spent us into a huge fiscal hole.
Sounds to me like you’re a Clinton Democrat.
Bush turns out to be fiscally liberal, that’s how it works.
Almost abolished the national debt? In which universe, exactly?
There was an annual surplus during a couple of years of the Clinton administration, but there’s a difference between the “defecit” and the “national debt” – it would take quite a lot of annual budget surpluses, all applied exclusively to paying it down, to abolish that sucker.
Actually if we could have continued down the Fiscal path that was forged during the Clinton years by both parties, the debt would have been gone in 20-30 years. Just in the fact it was no longer growing and we were paying it off, means we would have got there. Of course the fiscally irresponsible current admin has put us even further behind instead. Tax cuts to the wealthy in a time of war? Can anyone defend that?
Jim
Sure. The wealthy supply coke with far fewer dangerous additives and hookers guaranteed to swallow.
I am officially adding this to my platform. 
I almost always vote Republican. But I have mixed feelings about the issues the GOP supports. I am anti-abortion, but also anti-death penalty. It’s tough to find a single candidate that tracks with my views on both issues.
Still, weighing all the issues, as a general proposition, for state and federal elections, the Republican candidate almost always gets my vote.
I’m a conservative Republican. There are probably plenty of us here, but you tend to keep your head at crowd-level to avoid over-zealous debates.
I’m actually kind of confused about what was done with the surplus I heard about during the last couple of years of Clinton’s presidency, because from these numbers, the debt certainly didn’t decrease over any of the years of surplus. If it was applied towards the debt, then I can only assume that the interest compounding throughout the year grew the debt faster than the annual budget surplus amount was able to pay it. (And I’m sure there may have been other factors I’m not aware of affecting these numbers).
From the chart, there are clearly years where it appears to increase less rapidly than others, but it also looks like we would have to generate continuous surpluses, and much larger ones, to actually reduce it significantly, much less eliminate it, in 20-30 years.
Personally, I’m about as fiscally conservative as you could get. And I’m sick of both parties spending like a giddy teenager with Daddy’s credit card. (They just like to spend it on different things). And spending wastefully, to boot. My biggest pet peeve regarding government spending is the whole “we have to use up our entire budget this year, so that we’ll get at least the same amount next year” mentality. That sort of thing just encourages waste – the whole concept of saving money is just out the window.
Now we are on the same page, to me Republican was suppose to equal Fiscal Conservative and Strong Military. All these social issues and targeted tax breaks don’t seem to belong to the party I thought I joined. Problem is the Fiscal Conservative and Strong Military have never been the Democrat’s platform, so I seem to me left without a party.
Jim
Keep in mind that’s a Republican claim; the Democrats will tell you they’re also in favor of Fiscal Conservatism and a Strong Military. And both parties have also taken strong positions in favor of Democracy, Justice, and Family. You have to learn to judge a party by its actual actions, not by its campaign platforms or, worst of all, by the claims made about it by its opponents.
I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. When I was forming my political opinions it was pretty clear which party was pro-military and which was not. The Fiscal part has unfortunately always been more theory than practice. I cannot show a single administration in my lifetime that appeared to be fiscally responsible. Maybe Nixon, but I was too young to know if I am correct about it and I have not studied his economic policies.
Jim
Not Clinton’s? Why?
Was that addressed to me?
I think so.
Actually Clinton comes the closest, I am by no means anti-Clinton, I think he was a good president and a flawed man*. I voted for him in 1996. But no, he was not my ideal fiscal conservative either.
Jim