Have You Ever Completely Misjudge Who Someone Would Vote For

[DC Al Fine]

Have you ever completely misjudge a friend or relative's politics?

I have an uncle living in Nashville. He's a doctor, mainline Protestant and bashes Obama and Tea Partiers alike. Solid Romney man right? Wrong. He mentioned that he voted for Rick Santorum in the GOP primary a while ago and I was completely taken aback

[Ebowed]

Not that I can recall.

[IceSpear]

I know a girl I went to HS with that is a stripper, has had an abortion, loves gay people (and vehemently supports gay marriage), and thinks healthcare should be free for everyone. She told me she votes Republican because "Republicans love God".

I have a theory that people like her are why Republicans get the ~45% or so every election just for showing up as opposed to the ~30% from their hardcore base.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

50 Cent is a Republican (or was a Republican?) so there's that.

[bedstuy]

My super racist Republican uncle voted for Obama because he's pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and agrees with Democrats on taxes and economic issues.

[Cory]

My super racist Republican uncle voted for Obama because he's pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and agrees with Democrats on taxes and economic issues.

Hoe can you be a Republican but be pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and left wing on economic issues? I mean what's left. Is he typically a single-issue immigration or foreign policy voter?

[GaussLaw]

Have you ever completely misjudge a friend or relative's politics?

I have an uncle living in Nashville. He's a doctor, mainline Protestant and bashes Obama and Tea Partiers alike. Solid Romney man right? Wrong. He mentioned that he voted for Rick Santorum in the GOP primary a while ago and I was completely taken aback

To be fair, Rick Santorum now is an economic populist who advocates for more infrastructure/job-training spending and criticizes "Government is the problem" Republicans.  I mean, I would likely vote for him in the 2016 GOP primary if he stuck to that kind of platform.

For me personally, I was a Democrat until fairly recently, but few people would have guessed it, with a Jesus bumper sticker, a fondness for hunting, and an aversion to all things vegetarian.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Have you ever completely misjudge a friend or relative's politics?

I have an uncle living in Nashville. He's a doctor, mainline Protestant and bashes Obama and Tea Partiers alike. Solid Romney man right? Wrong. He mentioned that he voted for Rick Santorum in the GOP primary a while ago and I was completely taken aback

Well, if he's a socially conservative (since he does live in Tennessee ) Protestant, even if he's a mainliner, Romney's waffling on social issues and potentially, his Mormonism could have been issues for him (Just speculating here ).

Also, isn't your family from a strict orthodox Calvinist tradition? And isn't that tradition both very conservative on social (and I guess political) issues, as well as being more "High Church" than many other conservative Protestants in North America (aka politically conservative Low Church Protestants who aren't affiliated with a mainline denomination-aka "white evangelicals")?

Therefore, if your uncle is indeed more "High Church" and "traditionalist" in his conservatism (I'm assuming he's similar to you in that regard, correct me if I'm wrong! ) maybe supporting a politician who is known for both his devout Catholicism and his outspoken social conservatism isn't so surprising.

[IceSpear]

My super racist Republican uncle voted for Obama because he's pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and agrees with Democrats on taxes and economic issues.

Hoe can you be a Republican but be pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and left wing on economic issues? I mean what's left. Is he typically a single-issue immigration or foreign policy voter?

Implying there aren't people who vote based solely on a team sports mentality as opposed to issues.