Friday, February 1, 2008

The politics of a relationship

Next Tuesday, Georgia voters will head to the polls along with voters in 20 other states around the country for their presidential primary.

But what happens when you plan to vote for John McCain and your significant other is a staunch Barack Obama supporter?

On the surface, politics don't appear to play any significant role in a relationship. I don't think anyone asks for someone's party affiliations when retrieving the vital information.

However, how you feel about certain issues can be an indication of your values. Values, as we all know, play a very important role in every relationship. If two people do not share enough of the same values, their relationship will likely fail. There may be some passionate, heated arguments in between, but unless common ground can be met, it's likely a no-go.

Do politics matter in a relationship? Do you think two people who believe in two completely different political philosophies can have a successful relationship?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you can respect an opposing point of view and understand that other people have reasonable arguments and valid concerns, you can make a relationship work "across the aisle." If not, you better look for someone in the same party.
I'm very liberal on most issues, my partner is conservative on most issues, but we have reached the point after some years that we can watch the debates together and make fun of the candidates.
And although I'm probably 90 percent liberal, I don't think any party, organization or philosophy has a monopoly on wisdom, morality or common sense. You gotta keep listening the people you disagree with, you never know when you might learn something.
Of course, some people have "core principles" -- they can't be with someone who's on the "wrong" side of abortion or the war or fill in the blank.
If you agree on that one big thing, it's OK not to sweat the details like whether Obama's immigration policy is better than Hillary's. We all know 90 percent of that campaign stuff is B.S. anyway.:)

Anonymous said...

i agree with donnie. as long as you can come to an understanding on your stances on the big issues than something like party affiliation will not be a deal breaker for most. however if you are very much so interested in politics then you might want to stick to your own kind because i forsee many heated drag out knock down debates in your future.