I grew up in a conservative, but Democratic family living in an area of the state where we were overwhelmed by very conservative and religion preaching Republicans. I had always felt a bit out of place with both my familys’ and peers’ political and religious views. I went with the Republicans because I guess it was engraved in me to be that way according to the demographics and mentality in my area. I suppose that I went along with the charade since even admitting that you’re a liberal in my county meant that you would receive a great deal of ridicule, and the same with the religious nonsense.
When I became old enough to vote I registered as an independent (not a political party) very quickly, but I was more of a conservative one. It was a gradual trend, and my views then became more libertarian. At the peak of my libertarianism I had switched to the Republican Party (head slap) to support the few libertarian minded Republican candidates in my county and state since many Democrats in my neck of the woods were actually quite conservative.
Eventually I switched back to being an independent, but a much more liberal one. I really don’t believe there was any true drawing line for me here during my switches. I just think that I always was liberal minded, but went with what others expected of me, and what I’d perceived would garner me the most amount of respect amongst my peers. As a result I inevitably just got sick and tired of pretending and trying to fool even myself that I was a conservative, or even a libertarian. I guess this would explain why each of my political shifts were always more liberal than the previous.
Rather than there being a last straw, for me instead it was more like learning to stand up for myself and not being afraid to express my true beliefs, and this ability simply increased for me with age I guess. I’ve been contemplating registering as a Democrat, though I had never been much of a partisan voter in reality. The Republican party originally had a wonderful format at one time, and Democrats sucked at one time in my opinion, so I try to stick to ideology rather than partisan politics and talking points, especially these days.