How to Get Along With a Someone With Opposing Political Views

Keeping your mouth shut the moment your friend blabs on about what a great addition Sarah Palin was to the Republican ticket will be tricky, but you can do it. When you're in the high-stakes portion of a political season, tempers are flaring. Don't let your friendship with a Republican (or Democrat) throw 20 years of camaraderie down the drain. Learn to conduct your cross-party personal relationships in ways that unite, not divide.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Have Tact, Don't Attack

1. Keep your friendships and family relationships intact by having tact. If you start attacking everyone you're close to because you're the token Democrat in the family, you'll be eating Thanksgiving dinner alone. To be tactful, gently explain to others why you believe the things you do and let them voice their opinions. You can disagree, but you don't have to jump on them. Guess what: Neither of you is going to change the other person's mind, so don't bother.

2. Laugh your way through the discussion when it gets rough. Humor is the right antidote for just about anything that ails us. Don't be rude about it: Don't laugh every time you hear the name George Bush, but don't be adverse to cracking up over the fact that Sarah Palin and Tina Fey look so much alike, and that you just know the latter is recoiling from this fact.

3. Smooth out the rough spots. Political discussions are one of the top topics to avoid, experts tell us. So if you are continuing a line of discourse with a good friend, make sure that you stop yourself before you get too provocative. Try to avoid subjects that are the touchiest for the opposing political party. If you are pro-life and your friend is pro-choice, you probably both know that. Don't spend time trying to convince her why life begins at conception or why it doesn't, if that's how you feel.

4. Involve others in the discussion. There is safety in numbers, as they say. If you are at a restaurant and having a heated one-on-one with your pal about 8 years of failed Bush policies, you might be helped by the waitress who chimes in that while she agrees with you, it's worth a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to McCain and Palin. (You can go throw up in the bathroom, if you must!)

5. Hug your friend or family member when you're done talking. Pat her on the back and change the subject. Politics not only makes for strange bedfellows, but strained relationships as well. An immediate segue into sports or a discussion of a new art exhibit in town is infinitely better than rambling on and on for hours about your love for the Obama family.

Tips & Warnings

• Use jokes as a way of deflecting the tension in your conversation.
• Try to avoid discussing the most emotionally charged aspects of the political parties' doctrines--namely, abortion rights and the death penalty.

Resources

• Obama's and Biden's plan for a healthy America
• McCain-Palin website

[sherryeam]

on 3/16/2009 Good advice. I try really hard to avoid those types of situations but sometimes it happens. It's good to think ahead what to do to through it.

[CareerFashion]

on 10/7/2008 Good advice. Politicians only stay in office for a few years, but good friends may stay with us for decades. Long term friendships are important. The people in office do affect our lives, but our friends and family affect our lives much more.