<p>I was thinking along the lines of To Have and Have not & The Cradle will Rock- also October Sky.</p>
<p>I think it would be impossible for a “kool-aid drinking” liberal Democrat to remain successfully married to his/her Republican equivalent, the reason being that they both possess a mutual and absolute inability to entertain the thought that they might be wrong on any given issue. Belief in the dogma of absolutes totally negates the possibility of reasonable discourse. I suspect that Karvil and Matalin can remain married because neither of them prizes his/her political beliefs or party affiliation above the individual they call spouse. Despite their political differences, they probably still share the things that they both consider essential to life and happiness. They both obviously enjoy a “lively” political discussion, but they also possess the ability to zoom out and encompass the wider view (to use TheDad’s analogy), to admit that there might be gray areas they’ve not yet considered. Barring that, they probably love one another enough to agree to disagree and respectfully end the discussion. Respect is the operative word here. As long as there is enough knowledge of the individual to realize that their political beliefs do not comprise the whole of that person—that they possess many other “redeeming qualities”, the ability to co-exist, even to remain happily married, exists. </p>
<p>The problem with this cyber-cafe called CC, is that we most often know absolutely nothing of one another save that which we read in each other’s posts. I like to assume that there is something significant to love in just about everyone here, if not that there’s a great deal to both love and respect. I just hate it when conflict of opinion becomes destructive or hurtful. To quote the inimitable Yoda: “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” “Fear is the path to the Dark Side”—:>{</p>
<p>My H and I agree politically on most things, however, there are times when we vote very differently. In the recent Gubernatorial election, I voted for the liberal democrat, and H voted for the conservative republican, thereby canceling out one another’s vote…sigh. Neither of us felt disparagingly of the other for their choice. At the end of the day, it’s just not that important. </p>
<p>The Democrat won by a significant margin by the way, despite the fact that polls had both candidates running neck and neck clean up to election day. Our popular out-going Democratic governor endorsed his Democratic Lt. Governor for the job. President Bush flew in a couple of days before the election to stump for the Republican candidate. We all know how the President’s numbers have been running lately… Coincidence? I think not! This is just one small indication of how the next Presidential election will most likely shake out. Politics is nothing if not cyclical ( I feel like a Myna Bird, I’ve said that so often—LOL!). The pendulum is poised to swing quite a bit (if not all the way) in the opposite direction in '08. If our next Commander-In-Chief is not a Democrat, I’ll probably fall over in surprise. The Congress, also, is likely to experience a significant shift in the balance of power. SSDD.</p>
<p>How about a Muslim and a Christian?</p>
<p>Stepping up to the plate!</p>
<p>
If this were not true, it would seem to dictate that there was not much of a “person” there to begin with…if that person were so neatly defined by the political, which to my mind is one of the smallest aspects of what a person, by definition, is.</p>
<p>I’m amazed to see that so many here find this to be such a big issue. The last picture to run through the theatre of my mind, in my own visions of my wife, would be my wife’s politics–I’m not so sure that either of our politics are so well defined as that; our views of life are another matter entirely.</p>
<p>Arnold and Maria…He announced this week that Maria had opposed the special elections…we had noticed she was never out campaigning for the propositions. I wonder if this extends beyond the daily politics. In a public speech Arnold said that he talks to his boys about economics but he didn’t mention talking with his girls about it. I also wonder if this stuff has a greater impact on the in-laws.</p>
<p>I think it would be great to be paired with a liberal - an old fashioned liberal like those who used to take pride in their open minded approach. I find it very interesting to have my views challenged by someone who has taken the time to look at the facts but come to the opposite conclussion from mine. Many of my best friends are such and I know that many of the CC liberals also are such; unfortunately, open-mindedness on both sides of the spectrum has become more and more rare. Could I be married to a Kerry/Edwards/Lieberman/Biden Democrat - sure; Could I be married to a Michael Moore/Howard Dean/Barbara Streisand Democrat - never.</p>
<p>I grew up a product of the 60s and 70s. Marched for the moratorium against the war. Typical NE liberal Democrat. Fast forward several years. I marry someone who was active duty military at the time we married. Not what I had envisioned for myself. He switched to the reserves, but it took a while to get used to waking up and seing him in those BDU’s (thats military lingo for “Battle dress uniforms”- otherwise known as “fatigues”. OK- end of my knowledge of military talk). We, like momof2inca’s parents, routinely went out and cancelled out each other’s votes. Didn’t talk politics. But my how times have changed. He is now libertarian in his thinking. He is disgusted with how the US has handled international relations and consequently, how the US is viewed by folks overseas. He did a lot of international travel for work, and the attitude towards Americans has really changed.</p>
<p>I have found that I have become a bit more conservative now that I have something to conserve. I am still philosophically liberal in my leanings, and am still a registered democrat, which makes it quite easy to vote at some elections where the lines to get your ballot are separated by party affiliation. I voted at some run-off election after work one year, and was only the 4th signature on the Democrat list :(</p>