Talk Elections

This'll be an interesting one.

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I'm mistaken for a pro-Obama liberal quite often (typically when this happens I just steer the discussions to the topics I'm actually liberal on).

I actually quite dislike it when people call me a "liberal," but it's somewhat understandable since the sad fact is that the vast majority of Americans don't really understand or recognize what Socialism is.

Not really, though people think I'm further left than I actually am.

Someone once remarked he thought I was the most atheist person in the class if that counts.

IRL few people realize how conservative I really am. But I don't really fit on the Canuck political spectrum, so understandable. :P

Yes, because most kids my age think that the terms "Libertarian" and "Liberal" are synonymous

I've been called both a "liberal" and a "socialist" here on the forum. :P In some way, both are correct, as I hold Social-Democracy to represent the perfect equilibrium between Liberalism and Socialism.

Right-wingers call me a socialist, left-wingers call me a neoliberal/rightist.

Ive been called a Liberal Republican and a Libertarian

Ive been mistaken for a conservative a couple of times, also more liberal.

Out of context I have probably sounded like both a extreme conservative and an extreme liberal at times, depending on what the topic is. It is especially amusing when I get accused of "liking Bush" when I criticize Obama from the left (which I usually do, since such arguments have not been repeated ad nauseum by hypocrites like Sean Hannity.)

Yes - it is the norm for my views to be misgauged by others, especially by those who have not spent much time discussing politics with me in the past.

People often assume that the fact that I'm a Christian makes me a fundamentalist, so I guess in a way, yes.

Yes; whenever I mention that I am Mormon, people always assume I'll be voting for Romney, or that I'm far-right. I'm most definitely not a conservative.

Also, whenever I mention I'm liberal, people assume I'll be voting for Obama. Lolol no. Obama is a pro-corporate stooge just as much as a moderate Republican would be, and he's continued too many neocon military strategies (though I do like that he's encouraging the military to switch to green energy).

Basically, I'm a contradiction of all most people know about Mormons; an uber-leftist (though not quite socialist... yet) Mormon.

Yes, I've had people come up to me and say I should be in the Labour Party.

was mistaken for a Paulite when I first got to Cornell

Do elaborate.

when I first arrived at Cornell in 2008 we had this book discussion crap as part of orientation.  the book was Lincoln at Gettysburg, which I tried to read but couldn't, or at least chose not to.  thankfully the group discussion branched off into manners of more general electoral-politics, the details of which I don't remember, but I do remember a few kids coming up to me after and asking me if I was a Ron Paul supporter.

Only with my stupid friends who hardly know the difference between conservatives and liberals anyway.

It's much more likely that my friends are mistaken about their own ideologies. I know quite a few people who vote NDP even though they're obviously right-wing.

It happens more and more often as time goes by, both on this forum and in other places IRL.  But I don't blame people for that, I'm fairly confused about it myself.

I get confused for a Republican quite often.  It's very disappointing.

I got mistaken for a moderate by a democrat. Also got mistaken for being part of the coffee party too. Same democrat. She even thought at points I'm a libertarian. Even inspite of my telling her of my pro-life/pro-traditional marriage views.

A lot of people (mostly here) still think I'm a libertarian.

Does it count that I thought Hillary Clinton was a conservative in '08? No? Well, at least I increased my post count.

And Morgan, nobody knows what you are anymore.

I know what he is, but I have no desire to accumulate death points, so I'll have to stay quiet.

On some of the forum community election maps, I'll be grouped in withe the Republicans sometimes.

Conversely, when I'm with my extended family (an uber-Republican lot, many of which subscribe to birtherism), I sound like I'm a radical liberal when compared to them.

Sometimes. In real life, some people are pretty surprised when I reveal that I'm a staunch Republican - including some of the ones I talk about political issues with.

People from my homeland also generally pidgeonhole me as a staunch liberal, but I tend to get the opposite reaction from a lot of urban, coastal Americans. As this forum shows.

Yes, nearly everyone does this in my case.  I'm an odd duck, and all sides dislike my plumage.

I've been confused for a conservative in that I don't particularly care for identity politics and am pretty nationalistic when it comes to foreign policy. A lot of people mistake me for a hawk.

But then they hear me talk about economic issues and accuse me of being a communist. I'm not. I'm a social democrat and I can't stand just about anyone in politics when it comes to economic issues, where 95% of politicians and other elected officials are completely full of sh**t.

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I get mistaken for a Democrat quite a bit. I've always liked a good debate and I also tend to be more centrist then, say, people in my church group.

Usually people mistakenly think I'm a green.

I don't know.  I could see how I might, considering some of my views and statements on here.

Democrats always think I'm a conservative, and Republicans always think I'm liberal or just plain ideologically weird.

Im mastaken by basically everyone i know for a Hard-Core Conservative. Most people that know me say im a Moderate Conservative.

I've been called a neo-con by a liberal acquaintance, which is weird because my foreign policy is borderline isolationist and I'm a libertarian/paleo-con.

What do you call yourself Opebo?

Most people don't suspect a socialist... so naturally, I'm mistaken for a liberal most of the time. I've been mistaken for a conservative or libertarian before, when criticizing Obama's bailouts or talking about gun rights but not really often.

I generally just stick with "left-leaning" or something in public, just because "socialist" has such negative connotations among Americans.

Criticizing Obama from the left has definitely confused people into believing I must be a Republican for "not liking Obama"

I'm often criticized for being conservative (to bug me) because I have some culturally conservative traits.

People have confused me for a liberal when we've been discussing socially liberal topics - ie the government's plans to allow gay marriage.

I'm a brown secular first-generation native-born Jew from New York. Whaddaya think?

Additionally, for whatever reason people frequently choose extremely odd topics to disagree with me on, so I'm left defending Joe Biden in front of the class or s**t, and these things frequently give the wrong impression.

EDIT: And on top of that I have an extremely unusual combination of views, so people are left with the impression I'm a hardcore Democrat when abortion (for instance) is discussed.

there's nothing 'unusual' about your views, you're a garden variety neocon. if you had been born 20 years earlier and stayed more or less the same as now you might have grown up to be the next krauthammer.

A lot of people think I still harbor Republican/libertarian tendencies...but there's also the Socialist angle. AND the forum-exclusive bullshet issues with the "moderates". That's probably the one that irritates me the most...the somehow inbetween stage that's just nonsensical.

About 15 years ago, some Internet peeps thought I was conservative because I was economically liberal. (I think it was when I railed against so-called "free trade.")

People often assume I'm far more left-wing than I actually am, but I rarely am assumed to be conservative.

Some people mistake me for a Libertarian due to my economic views being pretty Libertarian (but i'm not on social, or foreign policy). 

People in real life think I'm a "liberal," people on alternatehistory.com probably think I'm a "conservative," people on The Atlas seem to think I am a "moderate," while the guys in chat think I'm a "socialist."

Hell if I know what I am.

Me: Something that slams Obama and Romney
Classmate: So wait, if you're not a Democrat and not a Republican, then what are you?
Me: A libertarian.
Classmate: Is that a real thing, or did you make it up?

I can't remember anyone thinking I wasn't what you would call liberal in this country.  Guess it's my personality. 

When I tell people I'm studying economics or am a practicing Catholic, they generally think I'm a conservative. When I tell people I support Obama, they often think I'm just another left-libertarian college kid.

If I were to stereotype you politically, without knowing your views, I would base my assumption on your liking for county music.

Yep, basically.

Haha. :P

Everyone says that im a Extreme Conservative because of my Far-Right Views on Social issues.

yeah. i was discussing the european union with someone and based on my position with that, they assumed i must be a tory.

One time a couple of years ago I was asked by a classmate if I liked Obama.  When I said I didn't, he asked me, "So you're more conservative?"  I responded with, "I'm more liberal.", and he seemed to think that was a little weird.

Happens a lot with me too. I get a kick out of explaining that no, Obama is too conservative for me, not too liberal.

absolutely, mostly by bot party line dogmatic people but yea I self id as a progressive populist, and I've been called a conservative, a tea partier, a libertarian, a raving liberal, and a socialist.. the most extreme terms are probably trolling, but still.. people have issues getting a finger on my views.. I'm not a straight line Dem, but I'm by no means conservative or ultra liberal.

I'm about like a progressive 60s Democrat

I get mistaken for a liberal all the time. I think it's some combination of living in a super-liberal area, being a grad student, and that I'll argue with conservatives as much as I argue with liberals. I don't think I ever really get mistaken for a far-left guy though.

Many conservative libertarians have said I belong in the Labour Party for my authoritarian and neo-con views. Yeah.

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I've been mistaken for a conservative, even a tea-partier on three occasions (God knows how :P ).

Yes, liberal who have a problem with refugees coming in across the border.

My Dad called me a Democrat once. I do agree with the Democrats on a few(maybe several  social issues) but economically I don't agree with the Democratic base. With some of the Southern Blue Dogs I can agree with them on some economic things though but thats not what passes for the Dem base these days. I call myself a Northeast Republican.