Republicans: All Pigtails, Plaid, and Rakes?

Since entering college, I'm realizing that in institutions of higher learning, one's political beliefs are hardly a choice; they're believed to be a lifestyle.

I have essentially become the token Republican of the best journalism school in the nation. Really, it's great. The faculty, professors, and students all know that I'm "The Republican" as I was affectionately nicknamed during the first week of classes. I'm proud of my beliefs, and I'm not afraid to show it- and everyone here realizes it. However, I've also had the opportunity to meet other students who have political ideals completely on the opposite side of the spectrum from me. Political liberals are abundant in college- especially at a journalism school. Or so these students think.

I was having a conversation with a friend a few nights ago, and she made a remark about how I was "more liberal than she thought," or something to that point. More liberal than she thought? Really? Keep in mind, this is the same friend that has seen me bargain-hunt and get up at ridiculous hours to go to church on Sunday morning. She's heard me rant about the economy and about how marriage is between a man and a woman. And we're not even allowed to discuss the topic of abortion.

So how am I liberal?

Well, I'm 18. I can laugh at an off-color joke, and I like my flavored coffees. I enjoy ridiculously crude humor, and I'll basically talk to anyone with a face.

In my mind, this does not make me liberal.

I wear shorts and tank tops in the summer.

Again, definitely not liberal (especially when you live in Texas and Arizona).

I have friends with piercings and tattoos.

Still not a liberal.

Her comment really threw off my train of thought, and for the last few days, I've been trying to figure out exactly what she meant by it.

For me, political liberals are pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and pro-spending money we don't have. I definitely do not fall under any of those categories.

But if my quite intelligent friend identified me as a liberal, there must be some sort of thought process that lead her to believe that.

Slowly, I'm realizing that for just about anyone under the age of 25, liberal is synonymous with trendy clothing, indie concerts, free spirits, and Mountain Dew. (Just kidding on that last one.) And conservative? Pigtails, plaid shirts, and farms.

Now, Fernando and I will both say that we love pigtails, plaid, and cows, but we're both also guilty of shopping at those stores with half-naked models in their advertisements, listening to trendy music, and running through the sprinklers along the trail behind my house. (Granted, I don't think either one of us likes Mountain Dew.) But both of us are undoubtedly conservative. If we could, we might even sell our souls to the Republican Party (Just kidding- I did say I enjoyed crude humor.).

Today, so many people are confusing their political beliefs with the more shallow aspects of their personalities and lifestyles. Sure, there are plenty of political conservatives who are stereotypical plaid wearin', rake totin' farmers, but that's not what makes them identify themselves as Republicans. There are also plenty of pierced and inked Democrats, but that is hardly what makes them Democrats.

When we first started WriteForTheRight around a year ago, its purpose was to target young people to see why we believe what we believe, but do you have any idea how hard it is to convince someone that despite the fact they love rock music and trends, their values of hard work and thriftiness essentially make them a Republican?

I'm trying. Really. I have friends who go on and on about the fees our college just keeps tacking onto our tuition and friends who insist on working through college because their parents "worked their butts off to give me everything, so now I'm paying them back." I have friends that have such entrepreneurial spirits and go to church every single week without fail. But they're all Democrats because Republicans (stereotypically, of course) are all old, rich, and own a ranch. Yes, we're poor college students and we love free stuff (especially food), but my friends fail to realize where their true political beliefs lie because of wordy definitions.

While the Republican Party seems to be excelling right now, in order to get back a majority in the Legislature, we have to reach out to voters while bypassing these definitions. Though we are Republicans, first, we are proud Americans who value hard work, entrepreneurial spirits, and reaping what we sow. We want to be able to live our lives the way that we want without "the man" bringing us down- and isn't that the most liberal thing of all?

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Comments

I like this topic you brought up, because I wonder about it too when I find out certain friends are Republican that I didn't expect or vice versa, but I think that it's not so off to consider someone's political views along with their lifestyles. 
If you think about it, the majority of Republicans are conservative in their religion as well, so that dictates their attitude towards issues such as gay marriage, abortion, sex education, appropriate entertainment and mode of dress. So it can be confusing for people to see someone who is vehemently supportive of the freedom to bear arms but not the freedom to marry who they want or someone who may not follow certain religious strictures of modesty but will argue against the morality of abortion from a religious viewpoint, if that makes sense. 
I'm a religious person so I relate to many concepts in the Republican party, but I find it contradictory that they say they don't like big government, because that's not true. It only applies to certain issues. There are many things Republicans do want the government to oversee and enforce such as more defense, no gay marriage and no abortion, while there are issues that aren't important or that don't align with their morals and values such as healthcare to all, educational opportunities to all,  that they don't care to see the government control.
That's why I also relate to the Democratic party that wants more freedom and opportunity for everyone to work hard and prosper. I see the merits and flaws in both parties.
 People should vote and think according to logic and reason, what makes sense to them and consider its effect on everyone and not what satisfies just themselves individually. Voting by religious strictures is valuable to a religious person, but if we live in a religious free and diverse nation, it's not fair to vote that upon all people.
 For example, in my religion, we don't drink alcohol because of its damaging effects on a person's mind and society as a whole, but I understand that not everyone believes that so I can't expect the whole country to accept that and outlaw alcohol. (We know the consequences from the Prohibition.) It could be argued against in non-religious terms of course since there's plenty of scientific and real life evidence of its dangers, but that's another story.

To me the difference between the parties of conservatism and liberalism is what areas they believe individuals are responsible for and what areas the government is responsible for. I really don't like the 2 party system because of this problem-everyone feels they most makeup all the positions that the party has with no room for overlap. In such a huge, diverse nation, how is it possible for us to all abide by only two distinct platforms?

Basically, what I'm saying is both parties have stereotypes and expectations that are wrong but they are attached to the traditional backgrounds of their constituents themselves. I don't feel either the Democratic Party or Republican is anti-American or has more American values than the other. People vote to keep a party dominant, claim victories or cast one in a bad light. It saddens me that our country has now divided itself and adopted that kind of mindset instead of acknowledging different opinions that want to achieve the same goal- a healthy, happy, just and safe country.

Great job blogging on here:]
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