Could You Handle Dating Someone with Different Political Beliefs?

"Birds of a feather flock together." "Opposites attract." Both of these cliches can be true in relationships - which I guess renders neither of them true - and it's totally fascinating to me. It leaves the couple with mirrored interests/ aesthetics/ professions/ etc wondering how the hell that Hedge Fund Manager/Yoga Instructor couple down the street is in any way functional. (Maybe the sex is fiery-hot enough to make up for any differences outside the bedroom?)

But one of the biggest of all the opposite-factors may be political persuasion, especially in ultra-heated, politics-is-war 2012. Most of my fellow liberal friends swear they could never ever EVER date a Republican - but then, I've dated one before, and it didn't bother me at all. (We didn't ignore the differences/never talk about it, either: we had debates all the time. They just never felt like actual fights.)

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So this led to me to ponder exactly what tendencies in a left-leaning person might determine whether they could handle being with a right-winger. Cause it's probably better to have an inkling up front, before you find yourself in a relationship where you're constantly red in the face (so to speak).

7 Ways To Tell If You Can Handle Dating a Republican (If You're a Democrat)

1 You find family Christmas debates more entertaining than infuriating.

2 When someone posts a fetus picture on facebook, you don't immediately defriend them.

3 You know Coulter and Malkin and Hasselbeck hold totally atrocious views, but you kind of…don't…care.

4 Ditto Aaron Shock/Scott Brown/Marco Rubio for women.

5 You're a converter who usually wins people over. If you've managed to get (bear with me while I generalize here) girlfriends into old Bond flicks, or boyfriends into Project Runway, this is you - so their opposition to same-sex marriage is only a matter of time.

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6 When you start talking with a stranger, and they casually mention something about the wealthy already being overtaxed, you engage in a friendly discussion instead of clamming up and finding the first excuse to leave the room.

7 You like forbidden fruit generally - New Yorker with a Red Sox fan, SoCal with a NorCal. This is one of the ultimate forbidden fruits, right up there with Atheist with a Fundie.

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Similarly, many conservatives (I'm thinking of particular friends here) wouldn't in their wildest DREAMS date a dreaded liberal. (The political ideology that is somehow now exclusively a pejorative in American politics, but that's a debate for another time…)

So: you, my Right-Winger friend, could probably handle dating a Dem if…

1 You're not attached to those incandescent bulbs, plastic water bottles, non-Fair trade coffee, and long showers - and don't mind keeping a reusable grocery bag with you at all times.

2 His unwillingness to fight back in an argument because he's a "pacifist" wouldn't drive you up the wall.

3 You didn't throw anything at the screen during Fahrenheit 9/11.

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4 You actually saw Fahrenheit 9/11.

5 Being in a Prius doesn't make you feel less manly.

6 You've never referred to Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, or Janeane Garofalo as "shrill."

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7 You can handle "the pill" being more than just something in The Matrix.