Why am I a Democrat?

I am a mid forties white male living in the South.  With my accent and business background, people assume I am a conservative.  When they find out I am a democrat, many are surprised and often ask, “why am I a democrat?”

The short answer is because I like people more than I like money.  Do not get me wrong, I like money too, but when an issue comes down to a choice between people or money, I like to err on the side of people.  This is not to say I would always decide in the favor of people, often times the costs are too high, but lets not put money first all the time.

I believe the democratic party is the best choice for the US to gain greater social freedom and economic development.

I believe social freedom means the freedom to be yourself as long as you do not hurt other people. I believe economic development means working to live, not living to work.

Why do I think the democrats are the best choice for social freedom? Because most liberals I know do not care about your sexual orientation, religion, drug use, choice of entertainment, etc. as long as your exercise of these rights does not infringe on the rights of others.

Why do I believe democrats are the best choice for economic development?  I am old enough to remember the S&L crisis in the early 90’s after nearly 3 terms for republican presidents.  I remember Bill Clinton’s economic bill that raised taxes on the top tax bracket, and the republican predictions of economic doom that accompanied it.  We all know how that turned out.  After 2 Bush terms we had yet another financial crisis.  In my lifetime, the democrats have managed the economy better than republicans.

So there you have it, that is as short as I can put it, and it usually fits in to a conversation as long as the constant interruptions with Rush Limbaugh’s and Bill O’Reilly’s latest pronouncements are kept to a minimum.

2 responses to “Why am I a Democrat?”

  1. Mike masarek says :

    I’m a 56 yr old white Jewish AIPAC active 1% er who used to be a middle guy…..now hard line permanent Dem. Why? In my social and philanthropic circles I’ve been asked that many many times. So, I listed the 20 most important things/ideas/concepts to ME….in no particular order. I tell my inquisidor let’s list those things….not debate the merits just list. For example, do you believe in a women’s right to make her own reproductive health decisions? If the answer is yes (as in my case) that was obviously a check mark in the Dem column. Do not discuss the subject just check the appropriate column. Next is do gay consenting adults have the same rights and protections as everybody else…marriage equality. Next, responsible, reasonable gun ownership, estate taxes on not previously taxed intergenerational wealth i.e.over 10mm. 3. Environmental Gov regulations vs. Industry self regulation, ditto financial services regs, Realtions with Israel…I know for a fact the Obama administration has released more military hardware than ANY previous admin…..etc etc. When I got to 20, it was 19 to 1 in favor of the Dems. Often makes the other guy squirm

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  2. Annie Meo says :

    I am a 69 year old woman. I raised sons, both of whom are intelligent, gentle, kind, men. My husband died young, and I took many low paying jobs, 2 at a time and spent what money I earned taking 1 college course at a time. Eventually I was able to finish a 2 year college degree and get a job in a hospital. In a few years I finished a 4 year college degree as a registered nurse. I was still making much less than men were making with a college degree. In a few more years, men started getting into nursing and salaries went up rapidly. Well, son-of-a-gun! wasn’t that a surprise! Well, not really a surprise, we women had known for a long time that we made less than men did in equivalent jobs. Yup, it took a while, but eventually we were all on similar pay scales!

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