Can a Republican be a ....

[RZM]

34. In my experience, the two don't have much to do with one another at all

I've know some really great people and some really nasty people. I've never been able to make much of a connection between their 'decency' and their politics. I worked in an office once where I was the only person who wasn't a conservative evangelical. We all got along great and I have nothing but respect for every single one my former co-workers there. I also lived in Appalachia for five years. I met quite a few liberal transplants there who looked upon the locals with nothing but contempt and scorn, viewing them as dirty, stupid, and beneath them.

To the extent I judge people, I do so on how they treat me and others in personal interactions. I don't bring political beliefs into it. That's not how I form my opinions of others. While I disagree with many conservative positions, most conservatives I've met have the same goals I do - to make this country a better place. They have very different ideas about how to do that, but we all draw our own conclusions based on observations of the world around us. I'm not willing to say somebody isn't 'decent' just because they have different opinions than I do.