My republican racist dad is voting for Obama
I almost fell out of my chair. My dad said the repubs are all fools. He said he likes Obama and they are giving him such a hard time. I was in shock. He is an Archie bunker type. But he can compare the old days to today and can see the problems. He likes him more than I do, he was explaining why he did certain things. Wow. Things are changing. Than he said we are the 99%. They are making an impact.my dad is 78.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Perhaps they won't bite. 
for a lot of people who have a life-long identification as a Republican. This tribal political identity (both sides) is not always based on a rational and sophisticated analysis of political philosophy - for many, it's simply based on a irrational hatred for "them" - in our case, Democrats. Could be a single incident where some Democrat did something on a very personal level to that person and that created a lifelong animosity...and the association got transferred to the entire party.
If this legislative fiasco drives home the complete hypocrisy of the republican agenda to a lot of lifelong, self-identifying Republicans, it will have been well worth it.
I think once a person reaches that qualitative decision point of political ID change, there's no turning back and we also benefit from the enthusiasm/outrage/energy of a political convert who'll work even harder than many Democrats to see today's Teapublican Party buried. I've know a couple of converts over the past 5 years that are now rabidly anti-Republican because they've came to realize that this Party was not promoting an agenda that was in their best interests. One, who I know really well, is constantly e-mailing me information and links - most of them I've been well aware of for some time, but for him, this constant discovery continues to generate more validation of his new-found disgust for his former Party. Before the conversion, you could supply all of the information you wanted and he wouldn't read it because he wouldn't believe it. His mind was closed. Now his mind is open and he's feeding himself. I suppose it can work the other way, but one interesting note - the only converts to Republicanism I see are by anonymous posters on the internet. "I used to be a Democrat, but now...". In real life, the few converts I've met or know all went to the light.
You can't even begin to argue that in any meaningful terms...
Barack has stopped the economy from bleeding out from Republican treachery, managed international affairs with skills, and begun a long process of reform in this country, starting with 80% of what we set out to get in health care insurance reform. Frankly, the man is doing the best he can for the country in a tough situation and if even the OPs father can see so, I increasingly have a hard time understanding those Democrats/"progressives" who don't want to give the man some hyperbole-free credit for what he's accomplished so far.
4 more years. 
