Politics and friendships

They don't always mix. Though given that I've spent most of my adult life on the upper west side of manhattan (a politically liberal enclave if there ever was one) it isn't very often that I encounter people with political views that differ from my own. So last night, it was a shock when, at dinner with our CT friends, a very cool couple with enough earthy-crunchiness and regard for the less fortunate to lead me to assume that they would vote Obama, my hubby and I discovered that not only were they voting for Romney but despised Obama. Gee. That brought the conversation to a grinding halt, at least momentarily. Civil discourse is easy when everyone agrees but it's another thing when common ground falls away and a chasm is revealed. After a few stabs on all of our parts to get at the whys and wherefores, we smiled and let the matter drop. But as I sit on a bus on my way back to the city to pull that lever and look forward with some trepidation to watching the returns come in with friends and family who are all voting exactly like I am, I have to say I don't know which way the dice will roll. We are one divided country, that's for sure, but I'm glad I have my little politically liberal enclave to come home to.