Writers answer the existential question: Why I am a …

Editor’s note: Last week, we ran a letter asking Democrats why they were Democrats. The response was so overwhelming we opened the floor to Republicans and non-affiliated voters as well. Here’s a lively selection of those answers (including the original asker’s answer). But there are many more online at www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion.

Democrat: To stop violence

Guns! That is why I changed several years ago, after being a Republican for 75 years to becoming a Democrat when the Republican Party refused to protect us from AR-15s and large capacity magazines.

Since then, I have seen Republicans opposing immigrants, gay people, and transgender people, all in the name of “traditional mores and customs.”

Democrats favor making it easy to vote, letting felons vote, and are “woke” — trying to help people. See Matthew 25:35-40.

Alice Schmidt Orlando

Independent: Going it alone

I am no longer affiliated with a political party. I was a Republican state legislator in the 1960s, but the party has become the modern day Dixiecrats. I prefer progress to regression.

Therefore, rather than to be tied to a party, I prefer to research candidates and support like-minded persons instead of a party. Until we have open primaries (I prefer ranked choice voting) candidates will continue to appeal only to their base and this further divides and hampers compromise.

Choice Edwards Clermont

Republican: The better platform

After 62 years of voting for the best candidate after my own research, I mostly voted for the party that represents: Very little government intervention; low taxes; respect for the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and leaders who govern as if they were the Bible; resolve to keep us safe and prosperous.

Those reasons and principles happen to spell the Republican Party (at the local, state, and federal levels).

Robert C. (Bob) Hurbanis Orlando

Republican: But vote D

With gratitude for the question, permit me to answer as a registered, lifelong Republican who has supported the Democratic agenda for the last decade.

My answer is quite simply that I find more, if not most, of the Democratic Party agenda attuned to the principles of social justice taught by my Roman Catholic Christian faith, as I understand them. Currently, Pope Francis engages the global existential issues impacting the dignity of all people. Examples include climate change, immigration, housing, war and other injustices.

I see these injustices as threatening human beings and their habitat in all the world including the United States. My faith has led me to vote as I pray, to bring about a world of peace and justice.

B. H. Pflumm Longwood

Independent: The right choice now

I voted for the first time in 1964 transiting the Panama Canal on a U.S. Navy ship. I have always voted as an independent to allow me to choose whom I feel is the most qualified candidate.

I think that the two major parties have lost their focus on working for the best interests of the country. They have become extremely radical, especially the Republicans.

The combination of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis remind me of Germany in the 1930s. Books were banned, people were discriminated against and there was no freedom of choice.

The Congress and the Supreme Court base their decisions on the strict interpretation of the Constitution, which reflects society 300 years ago, not as society is today.

Lew Blass Leesburg

Democrat: Influenced by example

I grew up in a home with two Republican parents at the time of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement. I watched as they responded negatively to anybody who opposed the war.

Also, I witnessed the upheaval caused by the enrollment of the first Black child in the private school where my mother taught. They even questioned whether they should close in response to the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. These and other events made me come to the belief that being a Republican is not what I wanted to be and so I have become a Democrat.

Cate Buckley Cocoa

Independent: People over party

I’m not really Democrat or Republican. I don’t view myself or my life through that lens. I have a set of core beliefs. I know what is right and wrong. I don’t need a book of scripture to explain it to me.

I’m a big believer in fairness, honesty and compassion. I try to see both sides of an issue and make the decision that best aligns with those values. Neither party has all of the answers. Texas is just as big a mess as California.

George Washington hated the idea of political parties. I think he had the right idea.

Corey Jon Carlson Casselberry

Democrat: For the common good

Next time you call 911, drive down the highway, drink a glass of clean water or receive your Social Security check, know these are the priorities fought for and supported by the Democratic Party. We all enjoy everyday benefits of living in America including Social Security, health care, public education, law enforcement, roads, police, clean drinking water, libraries, military, etc.

Being financially successful doesn’t absolve people from paying for the things we all benefit from. People, pay your taxes and be proud to be an American with so many benefits. Stop the freeloading just because of your financial success.

Tom Gill Belle Isle

Republican: Closer to ideals

I am a Republican (I call myself a Jeffersonian Republican) because I strongly believe in the basic conservative values expressed by Thomas Jefferson. Our government should provide us with a safe environment to conduct our lives (military and police protection) and otherwise pretty much leave us alone.

Our tax dollars are far better administered locally than nationally. To summarize: “The best government is the least government.” The current Republican Party is not right on target with this concept, but it comes closer than the alternative.

Tom Rose Umatilla

Democrat: Because they care

The answer to “Why are you a Democrat?” is easy: because I care about every man, woman and child. I want them to have affordable health care and housing. I want the poor and suffering seeking a better life for their families to be treated humanely. I want everyone to be free from gun violence and discrimination. I want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy real democracy and have a fighting chance as the earth gets hotter and hotter.

In short, I want everything Republican “leaders” oppose.

Brad Bole Orlando

Republican: Foreign policy matters

Why am I a Republican? The short answer: The Bay of Pigs. I was 19 years old when I cast my one and only vote for a Democratic president: JFK. Then, after Eisenhower had set up a plan for getting rid of Castro and communism from Cuba, JFK proceeded to dump off the Cuban freedom fighters and then pulled the naval fleet away, leaving the freedom fighters to be slaughtered.

Current Democrats only want to talk about the October fuss-up with Russia without admitting the cause of Russia’s attempt to place nuclear missiles into Cuba. I decided that a political party with built-in weak foreign policy was not for me. Just look at today for this same weakness: An open border and a war started by Russia, thumbing its nose at the United States. I sincerely hope that President Biden is talking tough to Vladimir Putin via behind-the-scenes contacts, because his open speeches are simply weak and actually encourage Putin to threaten nuclear war.

My second reason is that the Democratic Party has moved to replace our capitalistic society with socialism (a strong central government that controls everything).

Robert E. Wittmeyer Orlando

Democrat: The economy, of course

These honest opinions are exactly what people need to read. I hope they do.

To quote Will Rogers: “I’m not a member of any organized political party … I’m a Democrat.” The party, notably in Florida, can’t seem to get its act together. However, if America is to exist 200 years from now, capitalism must be adapted to maintain a large and strong middle class.

Republican moves to make the rich richer are penny wise/pound foolish, an “I got mine, who cares about the future?” A robust middle class pays taxes and spreads prosperity across a wide swath of people. In every historic time Congress came close to taking in more tax revenue than it had to spend (check out Bill Clinton’s term), you’ll find a strong middle-class — and usually a Democrat.

Kerry Smith Winter Springs

Republican: And so glad I asked

In my Tuesday letter to the editor I purposely didn’t preach about my political party, because I was looking for reasons why Democrats are Democrats. This has been a long-time interest of mine. But I think you can deduce from my letter that I’m a conservative Republican.

As I said on Wednesday I couldn’t be more proud of the Opinion staff for taking on this question I posed.

Robert Coleman Longwood