This will be the first time I have ever discussed this with another person. I figure there are enough uber-educated, insightful people on the SDMB that I can bring it up and get some real information, rather than be flamed into a quivering heap.
I’ll come out right up front and say I haven’t the slightest clue about politics. The subject was never mentioned in my house, nor the houses of any of my relatives, and never taught in my school. I have no frame of reference to be able to tell the difference between a liberal and a conservative government, nor the people who belong to the parties. Now I’m in another country where the parties are called different names, and I have no frame of reference to compare them to the ones in my former home.
What is a Democrat? What is a Republican? I hear various radio or TV commentators saying how the lines of distinction between the two are now blurred to the point of unrecognizability. How can one determine which one is? What if you’re neither? How is one person able to decide what another person’s political stripe is merely by hearing them speak? (particularly if it’s a politician stumping for office, reciting a speech written for him or her by someone else.) How does one choose one’s own brand of politics definitively enough to declare themselves one kind or the other?
Your opinions are most welcome.