Who Has the Biggest Impact on Your Political Point of View?

you forgot "None of The Above" nobody influences me I make my own decisions.

My parents HAD the biggest impact on my view on politics. I say that because I grew up in a household that had 1 black and white TV until 1973. Then we got A color TV. We watched the news. If there was news on, that's where THE TV was tuned. And football. There was a lot going on in the country, and the nation was deeply divided, much as it is now. We talked about it. I was often at odds with them because they were pretty much as right as Hannity or Limbaugh, but not quite John Birchers, who were pretty big in Washington State at the time. My, how far left have they slipped? I had a bit more compassion than they did, but still, as a class project in 7th or 8th grade, I chose to campaign for Nixon rather than Humphrey. In my family you basically became politically aware early or you rotted in your room, which is really only to say you didn't watch TV if you didn't want to watch what was on. The price of watching TV was talking about what we were seeing and hearing.

I also had the privilege of having some very fine teachers who, as early as the 5th or 6th grade, were deviating from the books and telling us the truth about Columbus, Custer, Slavery, the Civil War, the Big Wars and Korea and Vietnam. They seemed more concerned we understand the forces behind these events than exact dates and names. I spent many hours in public libraries researching.

So for me:
1) Parents
2) TV and News papers
3) Teachers

My political views often differed from my parents view. While I watch some of the mainstream media, I get better, more honest info from alternative media.

Some of my teachers kept it real with me. My parents to. Reading, history and critical thinking has the biggest impact on me personally.

None of the Above at this point in my life.

NONE OF THOSE!! My CORE BELIEFS as an independant citizen influence my vote. Logic, Reason, making the most informed decision I can. And if one side happens to agree with my core beliefs so what? Its MY vote! I didn't serve in the US Marines so I could not vote and practice free speech!

None of the above. I think for myself and I'm not influenced by anyone.

How we are raised probably has biggest impact on how people see the world, whether we end up agreeing or not agreeing with our parents.

The biggest impact on me now is reading, as I like to study issues so I can be better informed.

Actually none of the my family, friends, or media influence my opinion.

none of the above.

I tend to lean more towards what I've researched and my own values. Though I do tend to have friends who share a good number of my values, as do my family. But my friends and I lean more to the left than my family.

I'm not sure, my moral views play a part, I got some views from either parent, and I've formulated many of my views myself.

I try to listen and read as much as I can on the candidates.

My Dad, and Mom somewhat. And also the founding fathers.

I get my opinion from many sources

It was really none of these . Knowing Republicans shaped my world view. Not all but many are hateful people , who would do anything that they could to hold down minorities who were not yes men. They assume every black person is a thug until proven otherwise and would take the word of someone who attacked a cop ,as long as it made a black person seem bad . They support things like Stop and Frisk that takes away the Forth Amendment rights of minorities, while complaining about TSA slowing them down for an extra second . Note this is not all Republicans .

No one to be honest. I impact my own views. I absorb information and come up with a logical conclusion. Normally after extensive research. Anyone who does otherwise, just needs to stand up for themselves.

I think it's been a combination of my parents, teachers, and friends. Only the ones who's opinions I respect. They don't make the decision for me however, I just listen to what they have to say about whatever topic we happen to be discussing.

non of thr above. THE AMAZING ATHIEST, LEE DOREN, MRREPZION.

Gah, what a limited poll. I'm an individual, not a piece of paper ready to accept the bias ink others so desperately want to etch onto me. I make up my own mind based off the behavior and attitudes of politicians, and the people who support the parties these politicians are apart of.

And I say celebrities because politicians are, in a way, celebrities (and they do plenty to deter me from their politics). But mainly because of how poor this poll is.

The more I see on Fox news, the more proud I am to be a liberal democrat!

Flocking to one side just because the opposing side is wrong doesn't make it "right." Nazi Germany became enemies with the Soviets, but was either side good?

I was trying to be sarcastic. Frankly, I try and not watch Fox news, it is just too aggravating. I do see some... just so i can see how the other side thinks... but then I have to switch to my own favorites.

My father taught me some, he then enrolled me in a private school where I learned about the founding fathers and the principles of personal liberty.

I have more friends than parents so....

NONE OF THESE PEOPLE. Logic and reason shape all of my views. The media is the WORST thing to listen to fist hand, as are "celebrities".

I always try to read the same news from many different sources, that I may form my own views.

NONE of the above ..
what truly is interesting .. is that I value what the founding Fathers of our nations did ..
the ideas ... the principles .. they carried and expressed in their thoughts/writings
definitely had a formative aspect in my view of the 'body politic' ...

My best friend: Yahweh-God!

Imaginary friends are for children.

Agreed. Your lack of faith in the Creator of the Universe is your problem, not mine. It is because of Yahweh-God/Yeshua/Jesus that I exist, and you as well.

As much as I loathe them and as long as it's been since I even cared to try and get in touch with them, I have to admit that they shaped my view of the world, particularly along the axis of class and social power, to wind up being very similar to their own. Most political issues I simply can't imagine thinking the other way until I make an effort to lay out the values grounding it, which frankly I don't find as important as the values underlying my perspective. I'm pretty sure my upbringing had a lot to do with the priority I give to certain values over others.

The biggest impact when...when you are a child and don't know anything or have a mind of your own? Come on. If the majority are most influenced by parents...they either still live at home...or they have issues. The fact is, the majority of people are influenced by media. That is the main reason all of the people in politics spend HUNDREDS of millions of dollars - not on going directly to your parents, or friends or teachers or celebrities. They spend that money ON MEDIA!!! Now, the reason "I" said that media was the most influential on me was simply because that is the primary source for seeing and hearing the politicians state their positions. It is what we see and hear that influences us the most...unless YOU don't truly think for yourself and leave it up to all those other people - and just follow them.

Somewhat but all around NotA, I kind of developed some criticism towards the average campaign style that politicians developed.

How the politicians treat each other, you know the "You're the bad guy, no he's the bad guy." thing. They pit their voters against each other, they have un-paid solicitors that don't know what they are doing. Sad and its in poor taste.

When I was a kid (maybe 5th through 8th grade) and I was impressionable, there was this one teacher who would kind of bash Democrats, like saying that they won't kill murderers (capital punishment) but they'll kill babies (abortion). The way the teacher worded it made me believe that being a Democrat was wrong, but in the past couple of years I've looked at information and other people's opinions (mostly online) and I've decided for myself what I want to believe. I kind of have completely opposite views now, hah. x3

The irony now is that teachers are doing similar things for Democrats. I was told to tell my parents to vote for Clinton. I don't really remember the reasons he gave. Maybe it was due to the fact I got up and left his class.
then there is this

http://www.washingtonpost.com...

Wow that's crazy.
I don't think it's right for teachers to do that at all. They should just stay out of it.

I totally agree. Politics have no place at school

Politics has no place at school, are you insane?
The best you, as a citizen, can do for the political system is to be educated. Where else do you get proper education than at school?

If you'd have stayed in class, you may have learned that Bill Clinton is the best president we've had in the modern era.

Telling me to push my parents to vote for him at 15 was uncalled for. It couldn't be that he was willing to work with the other party could it? How would you like teachers to tell your kids to vote for Reagan? It's funny how liberal in doctrine is "information" I hate hypocrisy thank you.
The more I read about the presidents the one I have most respect for is...