[MasterONaniFiqh]

i'm a registered republican but i've voted democrat the last two elections (presidential and local). i voted for bush in 2000. kerry in 2004. my family had always been republican, being socially conservative immigrant small-business owners with an eye toward upward mobility and progress, and also a memory of rightwing support of pakistan and muslim overseas issues in the 80s. also, we're from a very cuban, very pro-republican locality here in miami, though i'm not sure how much that does or doesn't play into it, since local politics are mostly about local favors to local constituencies on local issues. (as someone in the construction field, my dad was often wooed or took part in dinners hosted by candidates of both parties promising various things to various local developers and subcontractors. and he would go to them regardless of political affiliation, because that game was entirely different. he even went to a democractic dinner and got to meet bill clinton, while also going as a minority delegate to the republican national convention one year.) but i think my whole family jumped ship after the onset of the war on terror and the civil liberties problems of recent years. not to mention "the economy, stupid," which has not been very kind to us lately either. (see: broke thread)