Do you have an active friendship with anyone who opposes your political views?

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Was it a conscious decision to seek out a friendship with someone of differing views, of was it was a long-term friendship which just evolved to this point?

Elaborate at will.

31 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I do have an active friendship with someone who opposes my political views.
	24 (77%)
	I do not have an active friendship with anyone who opposes my political views.
	7 (23%)
	Other.
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[MrSlayer]

1. Yes.

Not everything is about politics.

[Scuba]

43. Exactly. I have friends with whom I never discuss politics because of our opposing views...

... and I have friends with opposing views with whom I have occasional political debates, some heated.

But our friendship transcends our political leanings.

[LeftyMom]

2. Yep.

We've been friends since we were too young to care about such things.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Grudgingly

I've known the guy since high school. He was a troglodyte then and he is now.

But we agree on some nonpolitical stuff and he has a sense of humor. So, I tolerate him and actually have real conversations with him - sometimes.

[cloudbase]

4. Sure.

It's not hard to disagree agreeably.

[brewens]

5. Long term friendship with people that were raised republican. I can't hate them for that.

They should wise up and realize republican doesn't mean what it used to or what they belive it does anymore. Of course we have a lot of that, but not as bad, going on with our side.

[jorno67]

6. Yes...

I'm the long haired hippie freak it a very RED town. Almost everyone I come in contact with believe FOX News is 100% accurate. But you know you still come to like the people you work with or enjoy the same hobby. I usually end our political talks by saying something like "as a liberal I accept that you have a different point of view based on your background, education and religious affiliation".

[Courtesy Flush]

7. MOST of them!

That's life in a red state. Even my wife is just now coming around. It's kind of like being a Muslim in the Bible Belt.

[grilled onions]

8. My Friend Changed Political Views

Even now it seems strange to hear her comment about a Republican who she thinks is one of the good guys when twenty years ago he was just a bum. It is hard at times but we just don't talk politics much and rarely if she does and I make a comment by email does she ever "defend" her side or address my fears of a new administration.

[emilyg]

9. Yes.

[Drunken Irishman]

10. No. And I don't think I could.

I have acquaintances, but that's about it. I don't make friends with morons and since I pride myself on who I associate with, it would be beneath me to befriend a Republican.

I do have family members that are Republican, though, and I begrudgingly love them - but that's it.

[vaberella]

25. Huh..yeah you can. My mum has always more Repub than anything.

She's a Reaganite through and through. She liked Bush I too. She liked Bush II until Katrina. She did like Clinton though. Only Dem aside from Obama she liked. But Obama she is slowly tolerating. I can't even begrudgingly love her.

[Drunken Irishman]

27. If I met a Republican like that, sure...

But every Republican I've come in contact with that seems rational makes me sick. They say, "hey, I'm not against gay marriage...I'm pro-environment, I believe a woman has the right to choose..." and in every election, they go out and vote for the most extremist, right-wing Republicans on the ballot. I can't tolerate that shit. You support those ideals and yet you vote for reactionist assholes who are the exact opposite because they're Republican? Puhleeze!

[vaberella]

33. Ah okay. My mum is not like that.

My mum is super pro-abortion and has the experience to prove it. My mum is super pro-environment, but as she likes to say she's a country girl and the city is too polluted. And she became for gay marriage when she met by best friend and felt him and his boyfriend were the most fantastic people on earth. She hates Romney and despite her issues with Obama, will vote Obama.

[Betsy Ross]

11. The owner of the company I work for

is a bit of a libertarian. For Halloween, I dressed as a union thug and he dressed as the 1%. We toss it back and forth in the hallway.

[Prometheus Bound]

12. I had dinner the other night with five hard-core right-wingers.

Topics covering Romney's sure defeat of President Obama, gay marriage, austerity, torture, Bin Laden's end. What fun.

I ruin all their fun, because everytime one speaks, he expects a chorus of "Damn right!" And then they all look at me, knowing I'm going to spoil it all. We part all friendly like, but I don't know what they say about me after I leave.

Edit: They always invite me back, so maybe they get tired of the groupspeak.

[Walk away]

13. It isn't easy but yes. nt

[cheri010353]

14. Yes

I have a friend at work who is a Mormon and Conservative (I know - that's redundant). He is intelligent, well-read, keeps himself informed and is a joy to debate. We never insult or demean one another in our discussions and I love his open-mindedness and willingness to listen to and consider my opinions. I know he is a rare bird, but I appreciate his wit and we learn from one another. It is fun and stimulating to my intellect to talk to people with differing views. I wish there were more around like him.

[abolugi]

15. As a matter of fact

my best friend is a republican. I've known her for over 25 years. It seems over the years I've gotten more liberal and she has gotten more conservative. Her ignorance on current events irk me and she is on food stamps and unemployment but will vote repub every time because she thinks they want her guns. We don't talk politics much but she knows I love Obama and I know she hates him...
But she has been a great friend and is very generous and helpful. And I love her very much.
I swear, I don't get why she is such a teabagger! She just will not listen to facts. All she watches is Faux and I even tease her that Faux is not real news but she choose not to hear it....

[cherokeeprogressive]

16. My political life has two spheres: DU and the ballot box.

I don't beat any of my lifelong friends over the head with my political beliefs. When we "Ziggy Ziggy Ziggy Oy Oy Oy!" the only thing that's important to us is the fact that we're a gang of about 30 who've been arm-in-arm friends for 30+ years. We don't talk politics EVER.

Politics can seriously fuck up your life if you let it.

We don't let it.

[ananda]

17. Not exactly.

I do have a FB friend who is more hawkish than I am and a bit more conservative.
But he's not an extremist or a teabagger. Our commonality comes through art.

[riderinthestorm]

18. No. And it wasn't a conscious decision, we just grew apart.

I will say that I'm a curmudgeon anyway, very wary, I keep a professional distance. I've trusted before and been shit upon so I tend to be reserved in my friendships. That said, I guess I just have left behind all of my Rethug acquaintances/friends. I've grown out of them. Now I simply screen them out.

[Populist_Prole]

19. Yes, Three of them

One always was ( and is ) a hardcore Republican, and the other 2 were center/left ( at least economic-wise ) but went sharply rightward after Barack Obama was elected president. We both share many common non-political interests and other than the first mentioned, try to keep political discussion in abeyance. None of them really read in deeper than "talking heads" on TV level and it's funny hearing them try to sound more knowledgeable than they are by their clumsy and obvious attempts at paraphrasing the latest right-wing talking points to make them seem like they've arrived at their opinions objectively.

I must say though out my friendships are straining now. Anymore, neither of them just won't STFU about politics; and it seems they try to politicize whatever is being talked about. I'm just hoping at least the latter two will just give up after this november.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

20. My girlfriend's parents are staunch conservatives but great people.

We don't talk politics.

[LadyHawkAZ]

21. My Bestie is a Mormon

not as braindead conservative as the average Mormon though- I'd say maybe center right.

We don't talk politics or religion.

[shanti]

52. nope

i've a couple of winger relatives, but no friends of that ilk. i recently found out that my maternal grandfather (RIP) whom i loved dearly was a lifelong orange county (ca) republican, as were his children and extended family (excluding my mother).

dad was always a dem, and mom voted like him. dad's gone now too, but mom is still a staunch dem. however, her younger sister, my aunt, is always forwarding nasty emails about obama to her, which she promptly discards without reading. my aunt (and her husband) are Xtian fundies too.

[Jamaal510]

22. Nope.

I don't know anybody who is a RWer (but then again, I do live in the Bay Area). All the ones I have seen have either been on TV or on the Internet. And I have yet to get along with any who I encounter on the Internet.
The closest I've gotten to meeting someone of differing politics are a couple of counselors at my college who told me they voted for the Greens in '08.

[vaberella]

23. I have way too many. Shit, even my mother. n/t

[Cali_Democrat]

28. Your mom? That must suck.

I couldn't imagine what it's like having a conservative in my immediate family. Many DUers have to deal with that I'm sure.

[vaberella]

32. Yeah. You get used to it. My mother was a long life Republican before Katrina.

Aside from Clinton, she supported only Republicans. When Katrina happened, she felt Bush hated Black people. Then moved away, but still kept the thinking process. She's Caribbean, a lot of Caribbean people are actually Republicans. Mainly because of being highly religious and they hate government involvement. Thing is, after Katrina she supported Dems. Mainly Obama. Currently though, you ask her about Obama and she has a myriad of complaints.

My dad was a Dem. Hardcore Dem. Only voted Dem. The first time my dad voted for a Repub it was Bush. Mainly because he did not want to, or did get involved in the Haiti during the Aristide thing. Aristide says otherwise, most Haitian news said America helped him get out, but didn't help the coup d'etat. He did not like Aristide. However, if my dad was alive today he would vote for Obama.

However, despite my family being split in the middle politically and both were union members. Both weren't happy with unions. I on the other hand love unions and want everyone unionized. I am independent---and if I could vote all progressive thinkers in office I would. I believe being a progressive doesn't shine on one political party. For all intents and purposes many Repubs can be called progressive for siding with the right side of history. While, one too many Dems, a few blue dogs, are far from progressive. Hence my political status. My sister though, straight hard core Dem.

[Cali_Democrat]

24. Ya

One of my good friends from high school is a hard core Republican. He dares not even discuss politics with me anymore because I absolutely own and destroy him. It's not a fair fight.

[white_wolf]

26. My best friend is a conservative...

but he's moved slightly to the left over the years. He's still mostly a conservative, but he thinks income taxes are a good idea and he agrees with me that Germany's system of requiring Union members be on the boards of the companies they work for to be a good idea.

[H2O Man]

29. Yes.

Several, in fact.

[LeftishBrit]

30. Yes; I have friends who normally vote Conservative..

but I don't think I have any friends who would correspond to right-wing Republicans or teabaggers in America.

[XemaSab]

31. I'm friends with this one dude BECAUSE his views are different

It's very educational.

[ZombieHorde]

34. Yes, some of my friends are Libertarians.

We don't have to agree on everything.

[Snotcicles]

35. I guess it depends on how loosely you define friendship. nt

[Prometheus Bound]

36. I think it is extremely important to cultivate such friendships.

If you can keep your sense of humour during the discussions and pretend to show a little understanding for their views, you can really change people's attitudes.

[GoCubsGo]

42. Same here.

I have friends who differ from me on varying levels. Only the ones pretty much agree with me on everything are "close" friends. Lord knows I have tried being good friends with righties, but there have always been things that come as part of the package that I just can't live with. Extreme religiosity being one of them. It tends to be very hypocritical, at that. And, around here, there's also often underlying racism, which automatically prevents any friendship in my book. It's really difficult for liberals to become friends with conservatives in my town, because they're always bashing liberals. Why would I want to be friends with someone who thinks that my political beliefs make me "goddamned", "filthy", etc.? Needless to say, I tend to avoid most conservatives like the plague.

[pecwae]

38. Yes and without reservation.

Friendship, true and lasting, can be rare. I cherish my friends no matter what their politics might be. We know we disagree on certain things and let it go at that.

[StitchesforSnitches]

39. Nope not a single one

I cut them all out of my life include family members. They are for all intensive purposes dead to me. I even refuse to acknowledge their existence even if they are in the same room as me.

Best thing I ever did.

[madokie]

40. Yea I guess you could say that

but theres getting to be fewer and fewer all the time

[Kaleva]

41. I keep my political views restricted to DU.

[NNN0LHI]

44. No friends, just a lot of GOP acquaintances

[Aerows]

45. Yes

And we don't talk about politics.

[Phentex]

46. Yes, and she's a bad tipper, too...

She was't always this way but she has become more religious and conservative as we've gotten older. We meet as a group once a month and while she is interesting and has a great sense of humor, it's tough to keep a level head at times. We don't avoid topics but try to remain civil. I'm sure she just tolerates me at this point.

[etherealtruth]

47. Of course

Some of us don't have political conversations and some of us engage in very spirited political debates.

[treestar]

48. Yes and a lot of family

They seem to be control freaks and conservatism appeals because of that, with its simple conclusions. They don't like to hear about anything that disturbs their set-up of the way things ought to be. I even think they know on some level but want to hang onto their simple view of the world.

[Iggo]

49. No, I don't.

I've got some family, and a couple of in-laws, but that can't be helped.

[bigwillq]

50. Yes (nt)

[IcyPeas]

51. 2 of my best buddies at work are repubs

and one is a recovering alcoholic and christian who believes the earth is 6000 years old. seriously. the odd thing is she is a smart woman otherwise - I just don't get it.

we just know not to get in to those subjects with each other.

[AsahinaKimi]

53. I do but we have agreed

to never talk politics or religion. So far, its been nice.

[Liberal_in_LA]

54. sort of

[RZM]

55. I don't take politics into account when determining how I feel about somebody on a personal level

That would be a pretty bad way, IMO, to find real friends.

If anything, what attracts me to people is interest in politics/world affairs. I would probably have more to talk about with a Republican who follows these things than with a Democrat who doesn't.

[Blue_In_AK]

56. No, I don't need the aggravation.

[Doc_Technical]

57. I do not have an active friendship.

n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

58. I'm an Anarchist married for 30 + years to a Marxist.

On a few things we disagree. On most we don't.