I haven’t quite gotten that left, but I think I may have started farther to the right. I grew up in fairly Republican household (though my dad voted for the local Democrats–hey, it’s Chicago. He was always a big Daley guy. Seemed to like authoritarian types.) Anyhow, I was George H.W. Bush in a mock 8th grade television debate, I was pro-Iraq War, and I was a Dittohead (Rush Limbaugh listener.)
Then, I’m not entirely sure what happened. In college, I discovered my political philosophy to be more accurately labeled as libertarian. I was very much socially liberal (I grew up believing abortion was wrong, but didn’t feel strongly about it, much less legislating it aggressively; I never had an issue with homosexuality that I can remember, I was anti-death penalty, pro-legalization of at least some drugs [even though I didn’t do drugs], etc.) but fairly fiscally conservative (pro-open markets, little government intervention, contracting social programs, etc.) Hell, I even remember actually sincerely believing in “trickle-down economics!” :eek:
So I realized that my politics were really right in between conservative and liberal, with one axis being liberal, one being conservative. Over time, my fiscal philosophy became a bit tempered, and I started realizing that some regulations are important and necessary, and that perhaps providing for the common good via something like universal health care is socially important and even fiscally responsible/preferable, if run correctly.
All the while, my Republican party just kept moving more and more to the right, and so here I end up now, middle left. My wife, similarly, when I first met her about a dozen years ago, was a middle-of-the-roader, lean Republican. Now she’s left of me on some issues. Frankly, I was shocked. I simply avoided talking politics with her for the first few years, because I knew she was a good bit right of me. Not anymore.