# Do you love your preferred political party? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263 "2014-12-03T22:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/1 "2014-12-03T22:06:44Z")
I was reading [an article](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/12/02/conservative-same-sex-marriage-proponents-push-for-changes-in-republican-platform-in-south-carolina/) with this quote: > [@](#): > > Marco Nuñez, Jr., a member of the campaign’s leadership committee who’s previously worked on campaigns for presidential campaigns for George W. Bush and John McCain, called the platform language “very neutral.” > > “We’re not trying to ram anything down anyone’s throat,” he said. “We’re looking for language that **reflects the party I know and love**. We’re just looking for language that all Republicans can agree on.” Emphasis mine. He might be just speaking hyperbolically, but then maybe I’m more of an outlier here. I tolerate the Democratic party. It’s the best of what’s out there, but that isn’t saying much. What about you? Do you love your party? Do you hate it but the other guys are even worse? Indifferent? Unaffiliated? And does the idea of “loving” a party strike you as normal/natural/weird/insane? ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/2 "2014-12-03T22:09:40Z")
Of course not. Anyone who does is a trumpeting moron. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/3 "2014-12-03T22:43:20Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I tolerate the Democratic party. It’s the best of what’s out there, but that isn’t saying much. That’s my view exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/4 "2014-12-03T22:48:02Z")
If a political party wants my loyalty, it’s going to have to earn it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/5 "2014-12-03T22:57:53Z")
Oh god no. I don’t even like it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/6 "2014-12-03T22:58:09Z")
I see the Republican Party as better than the alternative, but still allowing foolishness or clumsiness to hinder it 24/7. I see the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan in a better light, but that’s also because the ruling KMT party is so awful. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/7 "2014-12-03T23:30:41Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I tolerate the Democratic party. It’s the best of what’s out there, but that isn’t saying much. I think even this is high praise. If the R party were to wake up and start taking its meds I could easily change my voting behavior if I liked where they were going. But as it stands, I see them as powerful, insane, and mean. And so I hold my nose and vote for powerful, insane, and relatively humane. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/8 "2014-12-03T23:42:54Z")
Not even slightly. I vote Democrat because I oppose the Republicans. Not because I like or respect the Democrats, much less “love” them. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/9 "2014-12-03T23:47:14Z")
No. I am a Republican leaning Independent but I am certainly not in love with the Republican party or any party. I don’t even see how that is possible. Both parties are a hopeless mish-mash of coalitions that don’t have much in common with each other at all. I could almost see some activist type loving a specific subset of a party but I don’t see how anyone could be even happy enough with many of their party mates to see either of them as anything but an ever changing blob of various ideological and demographic group that are the best deal going for the time being but may look completely different in ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/10 "2014-12-03T23:51:15Z")
I doubt the guy who’s being quoted “loves” his party either. “The \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ I know and love” is, IME, just a phrase people mindlessly toss about. E.g., if I went to a coffee shop I like and discover that they have redecorated I might say, “What happened? This is not the coffee shop I know and love!” But I don’t love the coffee shop, or necessarily even feel that strongly about it. And no, I don’t love my political party. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/11 "2014-12-03T23:55:17Z")
60 years ago, I think people could have boldly proclaimed love for party. In today’s poisoned politics, no. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/12 "2014-12-04T00:31:47Z")
Bleh, no. I’d scrap the whole damn system and start over if that were even remotely possible without serious bloodshed. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/13 "2014-12-04T00:34:10Z")
Twenty-five years from now I’ll be telling my grandchildren that I voted straight-ticket Democrat for most of my life and apologize, saying “Sorry kids, but the party that might actually have given you lower taxes and smaller government was just weirdly obsessed with gay sex and abortion back in those days.” ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/14 "2014-12-04T01:17:13Z")
I vote for lesser evils. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/15 "2014-12-04T01:26:43Z")
Jesus, no _way_. The Democrats are the lesser of two evils - they’re not even the best party out there, just the best realistic one. They’re like grocery store sheet cake soaked in lukewarm milk, but it’s better than the alternatives. WAG: Democrats are almost all going to be apathetic, while Republicans will feel more of a connection to their party. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/16 "2014-12-04T01:41:57Z")
I don’t even agree more with my Party let alone love them. Before people’s heads explode I tend to agree with them more on things I weight more heavily and view many of the points of disagreement as being things that they’ll have the least ability to have major impacts on. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/17 "2014-12-04T02:18:55Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I tolerate the Democratic party. It’s the best of what’s out there, but that isn’t saying much. “Best” isn’t even the “best” word there. “Best” is the superlative of “good”, meaning the most good among the good. For anything to be “best” it must first be “good”. Let’s just say, the Democratic party, in its current state of shambolic glory, is the _least bad_ out there. My complaint is that the Democrats are too meek and passive. They have nothing to counter the ranting, raving, recreational outrage mongering demagoguery (not to mention outright lies) of the Republicans and their out-of-control media. We Democrats are way too nice to have a chance against that. No-drama Obama included. (The day he was first inaugurated, I predicted that in a discussion with a friend.) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/18 "2014-12-04T02:21:47Z")
I love - which is to say, really like and admire - certain politicians in my party, like Elizabeth Warren and Russ Feingold; but I’m only a Democrat because we don’t have a viable social democratic party. And I loathe most of the G.O.P. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/19 "2014-12-04T03:25:09Z")
I only vote for Democrats because I abhor what the Republican party has become. And even then, I have to hold my nose when I vote. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263/20 "2014-12-04T04:54:04Z")
I really do love a handful of the local organizers, including one extremely wonderful member of the County Democratic Central Committee, and also the guy who runs the local Democratic Club. These are super people, and I am very happy they’re there, doing all they do. But that isn’t the party, just some of the best people who are grassroots organizers for it. I do like the Democratic Party. I believe it is a force for good in the world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-love-your-preferred-political-party/706263.md?page=2)