Anyone has had family members suddenly become Republican?

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I'm interested particularly in the psychological evolution of these sort of people... not ones that have voted identically and would do so again because of tradition, but those suddenly engrossed by what very well functions as a cult... and I think there are parallels with radicalization that leads people to join terrorist groups. Which might seem like a cyclical oddity: more radicalization leads to more extremism (essentially how violence works, whether direct or by (political) proxy)...

On the biological side there must be testosterone; elks apparently attack what otherwise they wouldn't outside of two specific months (although it might be urged by mating instincts, i.e. love, although hate replaces it in the human cases above).

But what makes a person go from having background beliefs that they might not even be convinced about to go to either mingle with (openly admitting) Nazis and fascists or fight some holy war, even sacrifice themselves? I think both have a lot in common, although one uses politics to advance violence by proxy and one engages in it directly and usually involves all members (or, of course, the supposed leader is doing it for precisely their own financial/ideological reasons while resting in their palaces...)

Seriously, will you *grow up*?

... You are basically saying Republican = Cult = Terrorist = Nazi....

As highlighted there is obviously a difference between those words even if it's just the definitions, but I think it's a similar psychological spectrum... everyone has brains, but then it's how various hormones and environmental triggers change a person's ideology. I don't mean all Republicans, either (but you seem to have ignored all the nuances)...

My mom likes Trump.

Her boyfriend listens to Fox News, and radio shows like Shawn Hannity most of the day. The tv is stuck on Fox news all day at his house.

She doesn't know much about politics except what Fox News and Shawn Hannity say, and her boyfriend repeats to her.

She has been asking me when will they prosecute Clinton for the emails.

Yes, funny when Trump himself could be prosecuted not for emails but rape, as if someone misplacing emails is the devil's work but rape is inconceivable if it comes from their angelic idol. Religious extremists preach in a similar manner and somehow people are convinced to commit suicide, so something powerful must be happening neurochemically.

In the 60's and 70's, my parents were hippies. They were very much against republicans and the values of that party. Then the 80's came along and they became yuppies. My father went from inspiring writer to corporate business guy. The way they voted changed because the republican party was more in line with what would benefit them in regards to money. They voted republican all through the 80's, 90's, and well into the early 200's. I think it was maybe 3 years ago now when my father suddenly realized they had been spending too much that they started voting democrat again, because it is now in their best interests to support the social programs they need in order to maintain the lifestyle they want to live.

So yeah, I have had family members suddenly become republicans.

My uncle has tried talking my sister, my mom, and me into voting Republican for this election. He became a Republican in 2008 because he took an instant dislike to Obama. He didn't like John McCain either, but was disappointed when Obama won.

He wants my mom, my sister, and I to vote for The Rump because he thinks that if Hillary wins in November, she will become like Richard Nixon.

I have a couple cousins in the US who are Republicans. They seem to be the liberal kind of Republicans though who actually contemplated to switch parties just because of Bernie Sanders. Otherwise they are like Bloomberg and Pataki fans.

By the way, if anyone thinks (some at least) of Trump's cult aren't equivalent to other kinds of terrorists see the synopsis of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turner_Diaries ... an unsubtle fantasy, more akin to masturbation, of how they want to kill not simply everyone else but start a nuclear civil war all the while all the countries somehow collapse, presumably due to their psychic powers or something. I can only see it as the psychological manifestation of sheer delusion like with paranoid schizophrenia, but if their candidate is elected I wouldn't be surprised if they urge him to fulfil the premise of the book... it doesn't even shy away from writing how they'd love to kill absolutely anyone using the same tactics as Islamic extremists. I'd think they can safely be categorized as psychopathic.

Dear Lord. Here we go again...
Could you not have put your "Trump is Hitler" circle jerk into another one of your "Trump is Hitler" threads?
Give it a break! Apply some self control with that New Topic button!

Mootoo, maybe you should just ask them "So... what made you decide to become racist, sexist, homophobe, xenophobe, islamophobe, and bigot? Surely someone dangled a big enough carrot and you couldn't pass it up".

Hopefully they'd respond something like "What single pocket-book or identity/division politics issue made you buy into regressive Chomsky-ite leftism?".

I think this could have been an interesting thread... multiple people giving their perspectives on why people they know switched political sides. In general, people who tend to vote one party for years, do not suddenly switch parties for no reason. Personally, I would have been interested in hearing the whys behind it. Oh well... I guess suddenly inserting random, unrelated, nonsense about cults is another way to take this topic. It reminds me of that 'Bat Boy' stuff the Weekly World News puts out there. Bat Boy... heh. Anybody remember him? Oh! Or those giant squirrels that were apparently taking over cities all across the land? Hah! That stuff cracks me right up. Oh those pesky,pesky squirrels.

Well, I could have not mentioned cults but I was relating it to how many keep saying 'IS' is a death cult... I don't mean anyone who suddenly switches parties anywhere is indoctrinating themselves, of course, but considering many ultranationalists came out of the woodwork specifically for one candidate like never before... I was wondering if there were other usually apathetic (non-)voters who are possibly fueled by either aggressive grandiosity or even suicidal idealization (voting for someone just so the whole edifice comes crushing down... these don't necessarily subscribe to everything I assume, though).