Reply #106: Here's his explanation, for what it's worth:

[JenniferJuniper]

"I became a registered Republican about five or six years ago because to have a successful democracy you have to have at least two parties, and one of them was failing miserably. We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. We needed a loyal opposition."

I believe he supported Ron Paul in '08.

Arlo has a history of philosophical bopping around. When I was a kid one day in the '70's while sitting in mass with my family in a Catholic Church in the Boston area I swore I saw him sitting in a pew diagonally in front us. I got smacked in back of my head by my father for whispering "look, there's Arlo Guthrie!" Sure enough, I found out later he was playing a gig nearby.

Many more years later, I while sitting in a dentist office waiting room, I read in a People magazine that he indeed had become a Catholic for a time, but had since moved on to an assortment of other religions.

So don't be shocked if you hear next he's become a Social Democrat. I think he's a bit flaky.