Political Influences
Throughout my life, I have been socialized to politics in a number of ways. First, the 1996 election comes to mind as the first political event I experienced. Second, the people that I am around on a day to day basis, mostly my parents, have had an affect on my socialization to politics. Third, some of the groups that I am part of have influenced how my ideas and opinions involving politics have developed. Other factors that have affected my socialization to politics include how much politics is talked about at my home, the activity of my parents in politics, and even such things as television and newspapers. All of these information channels have had an affect on my views and opinions on politics and the issues that politics deals with. Some of these sources, however, have a greater affect on me than others do.
The first political event I can remember was the 1996 presidential election. Back then I was a young little boy that was curious of the world and its purpose. However, I remember my mom constantly talking on the phone to her parents and sisters about the upcoming election. She made it sound like the end of the world was going to come if Bob Dole lost to Bill Clinton. Finally, the time to vote rolled around. Both my parents left that evening to go vote. When they arrived back home, the TV stayed on constantly with my parents nervously walking back and forth as the states were revealing their winner. Of course, I didn't really understand what was going on, but none the less I could feel the tension in the room. During the 1996 presidential race between the two main contestants, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, Democrat and Republican, respectively, my parents were both strong supporters of Mr. Dole as you can tell. Therefore, nearly all of the opinions and facts that I was exposed to at home reflected their ideas. This information caused me to see Clinton as a diabolical fiend, which I then associated with the Democratic Party. The Republican Party then...
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