I'm 51, so Gen X. My family has always been Republican, and how you are raised I think is a big influence. My wife however is Democrat and her parents are Conservative.
The schools and college have a big influence too. My college was Conservative, and my wife went to William and Mary which is more liberal I believe.
I try to keep an open mind, hence my voting for Obama in 2008. I even went door to door for him. Got a few doors slammed in my face. I also went door to door for Romney and had a similar experience. I supported Romney mostly because he wasn't Obama. Obama had me drinking the kool-aid in 2008. By 2012 I realized what a mistake I had made. I was very disappointed.
I have to say that my life has been like Krauthammer said, becoming more conservative as I grow older. I find myself agreeing more and more with my parents now after living life. They are in their early 80s now.
The next month is going to be tumultuous. Hopefully the country at least maintains conditions over the next 4 years. I'm not looking forward to higher taxes, but I think that only happens if the Democrats win both Senate seats.
Help me understand something... why did you make a point of saying Democratic voters were very young and tend to "grow out of it" if a) your wife is a Democrat (unless she's a lot younger than you) and b) you voted Democrats in your late 30s?
But I do agree that life experience really does shape who we are and what we believe. In contrast to you, I have become much more progressive as I got older.
Obama was a disappointment for me, too. Ironically, because he wasn't nearly progressive enough
. What did you like about him?
I think Romney deserves at least some credit for recognizing that Putin was a danger. Democrats laughed at him and said "What is this? The cold war?" when he said Russia was becoming a geopolitical threat in the debates.
He wasn't very good at arguing his point of view, but I do see some of his merits. Mitt's father was a strong supporter of civil rights, too, so I can only assume he was raised with that kind of empathy. I would have a hard time picking between Romney and Biden if those were the choices, truthfully. They are not even all that different.
Re: this thread. I hope that the Trump supporters understand that the feelings people like me have towards Trump are not the feelings we have towards half of America. Personally, I want conservatives to have someone who actually deserves that kind of adulation, not a con artist.
Anyway, if it matters, I studied science in undergrad, too (BS, Zoology with a minor in Geography for some reason). I have a doctorate in vet med as well.