Would political differences prevent you from having a relationship?

I come from a dyed-in-wool conservative Republican family. My liberalization came from the fact that everything I researched in depth I ended up changing sides.

When the death penalty was reenacted in 1976 I was initially for it but after some research learned that it was ineffective. It was a poor deterrent, was more expensive than lifetime imprisonment, was misapplied (the quality of the convict’s representation was a larger determinate than the seriousness of the crime), and there was the danger of wrongful execution. Not all Republicans were for capital punishment (especially back then) so I still considered myself a good Republican.

My sophomore year in high school I debated energy policy. I spent hours a day every night researching all about it. After this year I was for nationalizing energy. I still considered myself a conservative though, I was just for nationalizing energy.

My senior year of high school I debated health policy. After many hours of research I ended up on the side of socialized medicine. I was still a Republican though, I just wanted reasonable health care.

When the ERA was being discussed I couldn’t find any reason for women not to have equal rights under the law but then again Betty Ford was also for the ERA so I figured I was in good Republican company.

When I went off to college out of state I didn’t know anyone so I couldn’t choose my roomate and ended up on the gay wing. After meeting gays I discovered that I really didn’t have anything against them and made lots of friends. As Republican rhetoric got stronger against GLBT I still considered myself a Republican and assured myself that not all Republicans are bigots.

I considered myself a moderate Republican. A pro-choice, pro-women’s equality, pro-socialized medicine, pro-GLBT rights, anti-death penalty, Republican. Then it dawned on me that I was a Democrat. This was tough for me since in my household growing up liberal and Democrats were worse than insults. Now I was one. Ever since getting over this prejudice I’ve been a happy Democrat though.

For me my conservative was ideology based and my later liberalism was reality based. The more I learned the more liberal I became.

Not many guys my age know much about politics, much less have an idea what politics are and how you know if you are either liberal or conservative. LOL. But, I’m a really opinionative person so if I dated someone who was fiercly (sp?)conservative, I don’t think it’d really work. We’d argue too much.

Moderate is probably the key word, if you’re trying to have a relationship. I’m far more moderate than my husband, but we’ve agreed to disagree on certain subjects.

Would I have cared when I was young?? Probably not…the stars in my eyes would have gotten in the way.

I think the majority of people become more conservative as they age (there’s always exceptions to the rules)…but generally speaking, I think that is the truth.

Winston Churchill said…”Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.”

p

“No. When people get older, they generally become more conservative. An ex-liberal history teacher showed me this, and provided me research and examples in history where this happened.”

Not true in my experience. I am definately more liberal than I was when I was younger. I can only think of one friend who became more conservative. My brother in law, who is a 15 years older than me told me that I would get more conservative as I got older. I was a teen and he was in his late 20s when he said this. I recently mentioned this to him because he himself has gotten more liberal. And now he is in his 60s.

“My wife was a liberal, not anymore. “

I guess the brainwashing took…

No. When people get older, they generally become more conservative. An ex-liberal history teacher showed me this, and provided me research and examples in history where this happened.

It depends on how political you are.

When I was younger I didn’t care much about my love interest’s politics.

Now that I’m older I’m far more interested and involved in politics. I doubt that I could fall for someone who’s politics differ greatly from my own. Of course you are never going to find anyone who agrees on everything.

There is no way I could have ever married a conservative. It would cause way to many arguments. But politics is important to me. For someone less involved in it, it might be able to work.

I also could never have married a Yankee fan…

I want to be with someone who shares my values and my religious beliefs.

“My wife was a liberal, not anymore. “

I guess the brainwashing took…

My wife was a liberal, not anymore.

I would have no problem with a moderate, but to have a relationship with a strict conservative, doubtful.

often I’ve found when someone has a different political view point from me we also have ethical differences. but if we still had the same values and had things in common else where then yah I would. it’s not like you are going to agree on everything, that would just be boring.

Sure, I’d look past that at their heart / character.